Only way is to threaten to resume US military support for Ukraine

Publicly, it is now experimenting with a change of tactics.

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Instead of just talking to the Russians while ignoring the Ukrainians, Washington has accepted the Europeans' argument about the necessity of talking to the Ukrainians directly.

For the first time since the current diplomatic dance started, Mr. Witkoff met Ukraine's chief negotiators on April 17 at a conference convened by the French at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris.

Ever the real estate developer, Mr. Witkoff started the discussions by crassly remarking that the Elysee Palace reminded him of Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump's Florida residence, seemingly oblivious that the Elysee is older than even the United States.

Still, the French and their European allies were pleased that the US now appears to accept that the best way of getting a ceasefire is to agree with the Ukrainians and their European backers on a unified position and then present it to the Russians rather than remain the object of Russian diplomatic salami-slicing.