If you listen to Kushner, a simple picture emerges: All Putin has to do is take the Donbas—and the war will end

Kirill Dmitriev, the representative of the aggressor state at the negotiations, praises Kushner. He says that Kushner understands the Russian side better than almost anyone else.

Kushner himself names the Ukrainians he is working with on this track of the negotiations: Kirill Budanov, Serhiy Kyslytsya, Rustem Umerov, and Davyd Arakhamia.

The Americans are speaking. The Russians are speaking.

But the Ukrainian side remains silent.

And that is truly dangerous.

Because if you listen only to Kushner and Dmitriev, a very simple picture emerges. Putin supposedly just needs to take the Donbas—and the war will end. After that, the Americans will help rebuild Ukraine. Peace is practically in the bag. All that’s left is to agree on the territory.

Perhaps things aren’t like that at all.

But if so, the Ukrainian government has a duty to tell the Ukrainian people.

What is Putin actually demanding? What exactly are the Americans offering? What does the “territorial issue” mean? Is it just about Donbas? What other Russian demands remain on the table? What security guarantees are being offered to Ukraine? Where are Ukraine’s red lines?

I’m not calling for the negotiation protocols to be made public. Diplomacy requires confidentiality. But confidentiality doesn’t mean remaining silent toward one’s own people.

Especially during a war.

Because when Ukrainians are told every day that peace is almost agreed upon and all that remains is to “resolve the territorial issues,” they naturally ask: if it’s almost over, why mobilize? Why join the military? Why prepare the country for a protracted struggle?

And this is where the problem begins—no longer a diplomatic one, but a security one.

Russia isn’t just waging war with missiles and drones. It’s waging war on the state of Ukrainian society. On our willingness to resist. On our belief that we ourselves can make a difference.

That’s why the information vacuum surrounding the negotiations is very quickly filled with messages from others.

Today, Moscow is effectively presenting its version of events to Ukrainians. Washington is presenting its own.

But where is Kyiv’s version?

The people who are fighting, paying taxes, burying loved ones, living under shelling, and who must defend this country tomorrow have the right to know at least the basics: what Russia is bargaining for today and what Ukraine is fighting for.

That is why Budanov, Kyslytsia, Umerov, Arakhamia—or the president on whose behalf they are conducting these negotiations—must explain to the public what is happening.

Not the details of closed-door negotiations.

But Ukraine’s position.

Because silence is also a form of information policy.

And when we remain silent, others begin to speak for us.

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