Ukraine: What is the US negotiating?. and Russia?

The visit of the CIA director to Moscow once again reveals a dynamic that is repeated: while EE. THE. and Russia combine negotiation, pressure and dispute. Ukraine is not even the stone guest, with which there is a risk of being left as the last apricot in the jar, relegated while imperialisms negotiate over their territory and their future. We do not trust in the peace of imperialisms. We defend a just peace, based on sovereignty and Ukraine's right to self-determination.

ByRubén Tzanoff and Oleg Vernyk

An open secret

In November 2021, the then director of the CIA, William Burns, traveled to Moscow. He met with Putin and other Russian officials. The visit occurred in the face of evidence that Russia was preparing an offensive against Ukraine. It was just a few months before the full-scale invasion.

On Tuesday 25 August 2026, John Ratcliffe, current head of Yankee espionage, traveled to Moscow. The trip became an open secret. Now the situation is different. The war has been going on for more than four years and negotiations have failed to stop it. In this frame, North American imperialism maintains open direct channels with Russian imperialism.

What did it go for?? The trip and speculations

The trip was not previously announced. The first information came from American media. The initial absence of official explanations fueled various speculations.

What did Ratcliffe go to?? To warn the Kremlin against possible aggression against a NATO country?? To discuss a possible reactivation of negotiations on Ukraine? Were Russia's relations with Iran also discussed??

The Kremlin confirmed that there were“work meetings” between the spy chiefs of both countries and that there was no meeting with Putin. Trump described the trip as “semi-routine” and downplayed reports of a specific mission..

The statements are vague. Y, starting from those who make them, more than confirm, make you think: “when wolves negotiate, the lambs pay.

There are no elements to affirm that the meetings have closed a secret agreement, But its political importance cannot be ignored either..

Surely nothing positive for Ukraine

There is a conclusion that does not depend on knowing the secret details of the meeting: no negotiations on the future of Ukraine should take place behind the backs of the Ukrainian people. Nevertheless, This has been the central trend of North American and Russian imperialism..

Both defend their own strategic interests. OF. THE. seeks to rebuild its weakened, but sustained, world hegemony. Russia seeks to expand its influence, consolidate their conquests and break the isolation produced by the invasion.

What EE. THE. Reporting to Zelensky about the meetings in Moscow does not mean that Ukraine participates in the negotiations or decides on them.

Everything is done behind the backs of the Ukrainian people. A people fighting for their existence, their territory and their right to freely decide their future.

Trump and Putin: rapprochement and dispute

The relationship between Trump and Putin is not, at the moment, a stable alliance. It is not a permanent confrontation either..

Trump opened direct channels with Putin from the beginning of his second term. In 2025 There were direct telephone conversations after which delegations from both countries met in Riyadh. In August 2025, Trump and Putin met in Alaska and did not seal a final agreement either. Now, in August 2026, Moscow is once again the scene of high-level contacts.

It is a contradictory relationship, pragmatic and changing. They negotiate while they dispute regions of influence, mainly in Eastern Europe.

But there is a common denominator: big decisions are discussed with Ukraine relegated to a secondary role.

Imperialisms do not negotiate a just peace for the people

We reject the Russian invasion and occupation. We reject any political justification of Putin's imperialism.

And we denounce Trump's expansionist and domineering role, OF. UU., The EU, NATO like any other imperialist power.

It is not a solution favorable to the people for Ukraine to change one imperialism for another. OF. THE. and Russia can confront each other over their interests, but they can also negotiate when they find points of agreement.

When they negotiate, each one defends his own power interests. In both cases, They place Ukraine as a semi-colony.

That is why we distrust any "peace" built on the distribution of territories, the areas of influence or the economic interests of the great powers. A just peace must start from another principle: the right of the Ukrainian people to decide their own destiny.

That means advocating an end to Russian aggression.. The withdrawal of the occupation troops. The recovery of occupied territories. And guarantees so that Ukraine can exercise its right to self-determination.

Together with the Ukrainian people who resist

Together with colleagues from the Ukrainian Socialist League (LSU), the international socialist league (LIS) maintains a position independent of the Zelensky government, of all governments and all imperialist blocs.

We support the resistance of the Ukrainian people against the Russian invasion. We defend your right to freely decide your future.

Our solidarity is active. It's with the workers, the young people and the civilian population who suffer a war that they did not cause.

The LIS participates in concrete actions of worker and internationalist solidarity. We do it in unity, beyond the differences. One of them is the International Solidarity Convoy with Ukraine. An initiative that seeks to bring humanitarian and political aid to the people who resist and survive in the midst of war.