Estonian MP: US administration fails to grasp the war's deep roots

Marko Mihkelson, chair of the Estonian parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, says Moscow sees no reason to seek a breakthrough in peace efforts and believes the approaching winter gives it an opening to intensify attacks on Ukraine's infrastructure.

The latest meeting between Vladimir Putin and US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner ended without any breakthrough, which Mihkelson attributes to Putin simply having no need for one. He noted that Ukraine's air defense difficulties are worsening just as Russia sees a chance to inflict maximum damage on the country's economic infrastructure before winter sets in.

Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said the Moscow talks included a "clear and comprehensive" Russian assessment of the situation, highlighting battlefield successes and reiterating the need to address the conflict's "root causes."

Misreading the war's origins

Mihkelson argued that the Trump administration does not fully understand how deep the roots of the war actually run. In his view, the conflict's true cause is not NATO's expansion but Russia's ambition to restore its empire and redraw borders by force, something it demonstrates daily in its actions against Ukraine.

The Moscow meeting also touched on economic matters, including potential major joint Russian-American projects. Mihkelson pointed out that Witkoff and Kushner represent economic as well as diplomatic interests, and that the desire to normalize US-Russia relations gives Putin confidence he can influence anyone sent to negotiate with him.

One concrete outcome was that Kyiv was spared bombing while the US envoys were present, allowing residents a rare peaceful night after roughly ten days of continuous Russian strikes. Strikes on the capital nonetheless resumed early Tuesday.

What exactly was discussed or agreed in Moscow remains unclear, and may only become known later, through memoirs.