US still looking to exploit Ukraine crisis

Peace is anything but the real motive for Donald Trump's help in brokering an end to the Gaza conflict and the Ukraine crisis. The pursuit of peace is only a means for the US president and his colleagues to cover up their attempts to maximize the United States' interests and, if necessary, to use as a weapon to attack any party questioning their endeavors.

In Trump's showdown with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Feb 28, whenever the latter's remarks showed the possibility of exposing the US' impure purpose with its so-called mediating efforts, Trump and his deputy jumped in to stop the Ukrainian leader. Wielding their anti-peace baton against him they misled the viewers by accusing him of being ungrateful to the US for its assistance.

Although the US side is expected to repeat that trick in the planned meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Zelensky in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, what has happened since the last meeting between the two sides might prompt both sides to fine-tune their approaches.

Over the past nearly two weeks, Europe has reaffirmed its commitment to protect Ukraine, although pressing Kyiv to keep its door open to the US' mediation efforts; Russia has markedly intensified its offensives against Ukrainian targets after the US suspended its military and intelligence assistance to Kyiv; and the Trump administration is facing a strong backlash at home and abroad against some of its domestic and foreign policies.

No wonder Rubio said before the Jeddah meeting "We're not going to be sitting in a room drawing lines on a map but just get a general sense of what concessions are in the realm of the possible for them (Ukrainians)", adding both Russia and Ukraine need to "do difficult things", and securing a deal on Ukraine's mineral resources was not the primary focus of Tuesday's talks.

While Zelensky wrote in a social media posting late Monday "Strong positions on the front line and strong diplomacy must work together to achieve a just and lasting peace".

Meanwhile, Trump has voiced interest in making continued military aid conditional on access to Ukraine's mineral resources.

Rubio told a reporter "There's still more details to work out... And that would take a little bit more time" after meeting with Saudi officials on Monday. That means Washington has realized the process to end the crisis might take longer than it previously thought.

That White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is planning to travel to Moscow later this week for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin also indicates the resolution to the Ukraine crisis not only involves multiple parties but also the state of other burning issues in today's world.

- Li Yang, China Daily