These talks are a very Trumpian process — chaotic, unpredictable, messy | Oliver Carroll

The latest meeting in the trilateral peace talks took placein Geneva on February 17–18. Since then, the next round of negotiations has been postponed several times following the U.S.–Israeli military operation against Iran. Washington is proposing to hold the next meeting in the UnitedStates, but Russian representatives refuse to travel there and instead suggest Turkey or Switzerland — options that the American delegation does not support. Volodymyr Zelenskyy has described the dispute over the venue as a “Santa Barbara” — a never-ending drama — stressing that Ukraine is ready to travel to any of the proposed countries.Until recently, some negotiators believed a breakthroughcould come as early as March or April, says Oliver Carroll. Part of that optimism was linked to mounting problems in the Russian economy, which were expected toinfluence Vladimir Putin and potentially push him toward ending the war. But after a series of developments in Russia, Ukraine and globally, that scenario now seems increasingly unlikely. According to Carroll, Moscow is signaling through unofficial channels that it will return to maximalist demands, while Kyiv is moving to a Plan B — strengthening the country’s resilience to sustain the war in the long term.In this episode, journalist Angelina Kariakina speaks withOliver Carroll about what is happening behind the scenes of the negotiations, whether Europe and the United Kingdom could become parties to the talks, what all participants keep in mind during the process, and how the British correspondent sees today’s Russia.Do you like our podcast?Support the Public Interest Journalism Lab with a Donationhttps://www.journlab.online/donations