Kremlin signals no progress in Putin's talks with US

2025-12-03 07:19:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Five hours of talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump's top negotiator appear to have failed to bring any progress in securing a peace deal for Ukraine.

A Kremlin spokesman said the meeting in Moscow was "constructive" but parts of the plan remained unacceptable to Russia.

Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, attended the talks after weeks of intense diplomacy aimed at ending the war. The US team has not commented since leaving Moscow.

Earlier on Tuesday, Putin said that changes proposed by Kiev and Europe to a US-backed peace plan were unacceptable, adding that if Europe "wants to go to war and starts one, we are ready now."

Ukraine and its allies have lobbied the US to amend the draft peace agreement, to which the White House has tried to secure a quick agreement and the Kremlin has previously hinted it is open.

This plan, which was widely seen as favorable to Russia after it was published in the media in November, has undergone several changes in recent weeks.

Asked about the proposal after the meeting in Moscow, Putin's top aide, Yuri Ushakov, said the Kremlin "agreed on some points... but we criticized some things."

He added: "We haven't come up with a compromise version yet... We have a lot of work ahead of us."

Key disagreements between Moscow and Kiev remain, including the issue of Ukraine agreeing to cede territory it continues to control and security guarantees offered by Europe.

Moscow and Ukraine's European allies also remain deeply at odds over their expectations of what a peace solution should look like.

Speaking ahead of the talks, Putin sharply attacked leaders on the continent who have supported Kiev's defensive war efforts since Russia launched a full-scale invasion in 2022.

He said European leaders had the illusion that they could inflict a strategic defeat on Russia. His country, he said, “was not planning to go to war with Europe, but if Europe suddenly wants to go to war and starts one, we are ready now.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he expected to be briefed on the Kremlin talks by the US team after the meeting, although it was not clear whether Witkoff and Kushner would fly to Kiev or other European capitals for further face-to-face negotiations.

Speaking before the talks took place in the Kremlin, the Ukrainian leader said on Tuesday that there was an opportunity to end the war "now more than ever," but that elements of the proposals still needed to be worked out.

"Everything depends on today's discussions," Zelensky said at a press conference during an official visit to Ireland.

Zelensky said there were no "easy solutions," reiterating his country's insistence that Kiev participate in peace discussions and agree to clear security guarantees, such as NATO membership - a move long opposed by Russia and ruled out by Trump.

"We must stop the war in such a way that within a year, Russia will not return," Zelensky added.

Ukrainian representatives have held two rounds of high-level talks on the draft plan in recent weeks, attended by Witkoff, Kushner and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The White House said the proposals had been "greatly improved" as a result, although details of the updated plan have not been confirmed.

Putin, who believes Russia has the initiative on the battlefield, had seemed steadfast in his demands until last week, while Zelensky has repeatedly said he will never give up control of Ukraine's eastern regions.

As Tuesday's talks were underway, Trump told his cabinet in Washington that the conflict had not been easy to resolve, describing it as "a mess."/CNA, translated by BBC