Bloomberg has reported that Russia and Ukraine have been conducting “limited talks” in Qatar, citing unnamed Russian sources. The talks are said to focus on preventing threats to each country’s nuclear facilities as the war continues. The same report cited Ukrainian sources who say the contacts thus far have only focused on prisoner exchanges, which has resulted in several major swaps throughout the conflict. The latest exchange was Wednesday, involving 25 POWs returned on each side. But it’s clear that any direct negotiations under the incoming Trump administration is likely to grow out of these existing ‘limited’ contacts and exchanges. The Kremlin on Thursday offered ‘no comment’ when asked about Bloomberg’s reporting. Despite the Trump campaign rhetoric of a speedy negotiation track which will reach a permanent truce soon after he enters office, Trump’s team has since acknowledge that talks are likely to take much longer. A Wednesday Reuters report said, “Advisers to President-elect Donald Trump now concede that the Ukraine war will take months or even longer to resolve, a sharp reality check on his biggest foreign policy promise – to strike a peace deal on his first day in the White House.” “Two Trump associates, who have discussed the war in Ukraine with the president-elect, told […]