By Seymour Hersh, Substack, 3/10/25

Much narrower talks are now under way [between the US and Russia]. What follows is a report from inside a series on-and-off talks between some Americans and Russians that have been going on since it became clear in 2023 there would be no victors in the war.

One American knowledgeable of the current talks told me that they now have the attention of senior Trump Administration officials. It is understood that any settlement that emerges will not include a post-settlement role for Zelensky. His term as Ukraine’s president expired last spring, but the Ukrainian constitution bars elections while the country is under martial law. Zelensky has long been long known by American intelligence to be among a group of political officials and military leaders siphoning millions of dollars from American and European war aid. At one point, I was told that Zelensky was warned by William Burns, director of the Central Intelligence Agency under Biden, that the corrupt generals and political figures involved in skimming funds were angry because Zelensky himself was taking too big a cut.

As to the specifics of the discussions now under way, the current objective “is short-term and pragmatic—stop the shooting. Putin is in. He sees the domestic political benefit of winning back the ‘Russian’ provinces and giving the arrogant Ukrainians a bloody nose as well as an economic solution to Russia’s inflation driven-economy.” The Russian delegation to the talks seeks “no long-term solution to the historic hatred and mistrust” between the two countries. Vice President Vance, who has been involved in some of the discussions, believes implicit deterrence of any future Russian military action against Ukraine will come through American “corporate interests and US involvement in redevelopment across the board.”

The insider said that “the task for Vance now is tell Europe, ‘Don’t do it’”: don’t offer renewed arms and rebuilding funds for a Ukraine government still led by Zelensky. The insider told me that his bet is that Zelensky “will cave to reality and sign. Russia wants Zelensky gone, but the US says it is up to the Ukrainians. Vance sees that American domestic critics will blame Trump for a sellout to Russia because of his love for Putin.”

In the end, the insider said, Zelensky will stay for a while but be replaced within a year and shooting will stop.

He added, “I hope.”