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Posted on 09/09/2026 1:45:21 PM PDT by Cronos
Simultaneously with contacts conducted by US President Donald Trump’s representatives Steven Witkoff and Jared Kushner, a delegation of prominent American political scientists visited Moscow.
Professor John Mearsheimer, a faculty member at the University of Chicago who took part in the delegation, answered questions from the Russian daily Kommersant on the sidelines of a round-table meeting jointly organised by the Russian Council on Foreign and Defence Policy and the Higher School of Economics.
Mearsheimer said that while the Washington administration possesses the potential to play a constructive role in ending the war in Ukraine, it has not yet translated this capacity into action.
Stating that an American effort to encourage the Kyiv administration to reach a compromise with Russia and halt the war would make a positive contribution, the political scientist said: “Having potential is one thing, realising it is another matter. In this sense, the US has not yet used its potential and has not taken noteworthy steps that would contribute to ending the war in Ukraine.”
Evaluating Trump’s dispatch of negotiators Witkoff and Kushner to Moscow and Kyiv over the weekend, Mearsheimer emphasised that the American president is maintaining his efforts.
Recalling that the representatives had previously travelled to the Russian capital, the professor offered the following assessment:
“Trump is striving to achieve progress. The fact that he sent Witkoff and Kushner back to both capitals, despite having failed in the past, shows that he has not abandoned this objective. Yet at this stage, I see no concrete reason to believe these initiatives will succeed. There is no ground to think that Witkoff and Kushner have developed a magic formula that will end the war in Ukraine.”
Mearsheimer also addressed the motivation underlying Trump’s desire to end the conflict. Stating that the US president definitely wants to stop the war, the political scientist noted that Trump wants to be recognised as a peacemaker and receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
Arguing that Trump, who regards ending the war as serving American interests, is inexperienced in diplomacy, Mearsheimer remarked: “He does not know how to resolve this extremely complex problem. When his novice diplomacy combines with an issue of such intricacy, it is not surprising that he cannot make progress.”
Stating that although Trump previously described the conflict frequently as “Biden’s war”, the present picture shares out responsibility, Mearsheimer said that the conflict has now become Trump’s war.
Pointing out that the US administration continues weapons supplies via Europe, intelligence sharing including for strikes targeting Russian territory, and satellite internet support, the political scientist said:
“Before Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, this was Biden’s war. But when he became US president and could not end the war, this conflict turned into his own war. It is clear that the US continues its support by providing direct intelligence and indirectly giving the Europeans weapons to be transferred to Ukraine. Therefore, the US, and President Trump in particular, continue to provide support to Ukraine and contribute to the continuation of the war.”
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February 2022 On February 15, 2022 (shortly before the invasion), Mearsheimer stated during an interview at King's College London: "My view is that he [Putin] did not have any intention of invading Ukraine... he had no intention of invading Ukraine". https://www.logicofwar.com/why-did-experts-fail-to-predict-russias-invasion-of-ukraine/
September 2023 On September 2, 2023, Mearsheimer published a major analysis titled "Bound to Lose: Ukraine's 2023 Counteroffensive," where he argued that the Ukrainian military effort was doomed to failure due to massive Russian advantages in manpower and firepower.
January 2024 During an interview on the Daniel Davis Deep Dive podcast (transcribed around early 2024), Mearsheimer said: "It's ridiculous to think that Ukraine can hold the line in 2024 and then eventually take the offensive. That's just not going to happen." He clarified that holding the status quo was the best-case scenario, but launching an offensive was unrealistic. https://www.russiamatters.org/analysis/mearsheimer-where-ukraine-war-headed
Yeah, the guy who got the Abraham Accords signed lacks diplomacy. Git it.
Then the Russian is a fool. If he’s so good, get it done without Trump.
Diplomacy be like “Bust a cap in your ass”.
It’s funny seeing so much effort spent to smear Mearsheimer, when he has been the greatest scholarly explainer of the true situation and background of this war.
Nothing enrages some people more than the truth
And he’s right.
—Russia didn’t really want this war, but they didn’t want NATO on their border either.
—And in case you didn’t notice, Russia is sitting on 20% of what once was called Ukraine and Ukraine is not in NATO.
That said, what Mearsheimer does not include in his statements but surely is aware of, is that at this point Iran / Venezuela (when we invaded) and Ukraine are all connected.
—Was it a mere coincidence than all the Russian ships were out of port in Venezuela when we went in?
—Was it a mere coincidence that Wagner which protected Moduro and his predecessor wasn’t there? https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/25/venezuela-maduro-russia-private-security-contractors
—Was it a coincidence that technical personal needed to maintain the Russian air defense systems, jets, etc. weren’t there?
That’s what happens when you go to war with another world power.
These wars ends up spreading there wings since all the satellites and proxies get involved.
What do you think the true topic of discussion was when the head of the CIA went to Russia? https://www.ft.com/content/d0557d25-78b5-45d8-bb33-d655e859d803?syn-25a6b1a6=1
I think it is highly probable that Russia is leveraging Iran against us regards Ukraine: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-supplies-iran-with-cyber-support-spy-imagery-hone-attacks-ukraine-says-2026-04-07/
For us, the Middle East is our center of gravity economically and in security. That is to where we export the majority of our weapons, it is where much of the worlds oil comes from (and we have a HUGE influence over this)...: https://cdn.statcdn.com/Infographic/images/normal/12205.jpeg
Iran is the primary antagonist and destabilizing force in that region.
The war won’t end because of Russia not because of Trump’s lack of diplomacy.
Did Maureen Dowd edit that quote?
“My view is that he did not have any intention of invading Ukraine, and he nevertheless understood that there might be circumstances under which that was necessary.”
fo shizzle
It will be interesting to see how far Russia can get us out of the picture in Ukraine?
It is for us, a delicate tap dance.
We already pulled way back regards Ukraine, and Russia followed suit with Venezuela.
Now Russia will want us to pull back even further but we can’t really do that without causing serious damage to NATO.
We can not refuse our NATO allies key weapon systems, nor deny them certain Intel (much which is surely being shared with Ukraine)...
BBB has a new meaning in academia, Bring Back Biden. Could also be Bring Back Blinken, an extrordinary diplomat/s
It probably is also unhelpful to send a son-in-law as a negotiator.
The optics on that are not good.
Trump is skilled as a deal maker when 2 parties (a real estate buyer and seller) want to make a deal.
Putin and Zelensky are like 2 spoiled teenagers too stupid to make a deal. When will these teenage gang members grow up?
Mearsheimer should have V.I. rather than Ph.D. following h is name.
:Stating that the US president definitely wants to stop the war, the political scientist noted that Trump wants to be recognised as a peacemaker”
Well, he did have the right person to end the war, but chose to listen to Lindsey Graham instead.
Isn’t Mearsheimer that Israel-obsessed guy?
Mearsheimer is a realpolitik expert, not pro-Russian. Your comments at the end of the article are out of context and extremely misleading. Mearsheimer is also famous for pointing out that NATO aggression in Ukraine 2008-2014 was crossing “the brightest of all red lines” and would lead to war. He was right.
Is he anti-America in everything? He wants Trump to admit defeat against Iran.
Think speak softly but carry a big stick. TDR.
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