1. The Russians want to disrupt negotiations using others' hands. They failed to do this with Ukrainian hands, so they are trying to play their favorite game: sowing informational chaos and causing psychosis in the American political establishment. They were quite successful at this during the last election campaign.2. The Russians clearly did not expect such pressure from Trump. Putin doesn't want negotiations but is forced to play this game. And to disrupt the negotiations, a global scandal in the U.S. is needed. However, it seems Trump has decided to play this game to the end. And this leak will force Trump to accelerate the processes.3. I have repeatedly written that there are three obstacles on the path to a peace treaty:The territorial issue;Security guarantees for Europe;Putin's unwillingness to end the war, as he understands that in the event of a truce, he is signing a surrender. And his surrender means that Russia will definitively, and for at least a decade, lose its chance to become a third pole in the world.4. Yesterday, for the first time, Trump spoke about security guarantees for Europe. And this suggests that this problem might be overcome.5. Therefore, two points remain — territories (it seems we are quite close to a quasi-solution) and Putin's unwillingness. The only thing that can be said for sure now is: if Putin refuses the treaty, sanctions will be sharply increased. And the refusal itself will be another giant leap away from being a third world pole towards political dependence on China.SourceAbout the author: Vadym Denysenko, political scientist.The editors do not always share the opinions expressed by the authors of the blogs.