The latest Moscow-Kyiv peace effort from Kushner and Witkoff ended with an incredibly revealing press conference which laid bare the problem with the Trump peace effort in Ukraine. Most telling were Kushner’s comments suggesting that he saw the peace process as some kind of business deal and that, as in a business deal, what is “simply” needed is to find a “win-win.” If anything demonstrated that Kushner has zero understanding of this war – or as Putin says the fundamental causes of this war – it was this comment.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. For Kushner et al. it’s just about territory. That Putin just wants to keep Crimea and to be given the rest of Donbas, and then if Ukraine can be assured as to its long-term security, then that’s the win-win and that both states can go forth and prosper, and that the Trump administration can then take a big commission for cutting the deal with minerals deals et al. with Russia and Ukraine. But for Putin it’s not just about territory, it’s about the subjugation of the whole of Ukraine. But for Putin it’s not just about territory, it’s about the subjugation of the whole of Ukraine. He even said as much in the long-winded essay Putin wrote in mid-2021 laying out his justification for war. In that Putin denies the very right of a truly independent and sovereign Ukraine to exist. That’s the fundamental cause of this war – that for Putin if Ukraine is to exist as a state, then it has to be within Russia’s sphere of influence and to bow to Russia.