Moscow, December 3: Russia and the United States failed to reach any compromise on a possible peace deal to end the war in Ukraine after a five-hour meeting between President Vladimir Putin and envoys sent by U.S. President Donald Trump, the Kremlin said on Wednesday.
Trump, who has repeatedly voiced frustration over the difficulty of ending Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War Two, dispatched long-time associate Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner for direct talks in Moscow. The meeting, which stretched past midnight, came as Washington seeks ways to advance a peace framework amid mounting casualties and rising concern among European allies.
Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said the talks were “constructive” but made clear that “compromises have not yet been found” and that significant work lay ahead. He said Putin reacted negatively to some elements of the U.S. proposals.
Witkoff visited the U.S. embassy after the talks to brief the White House, Ushakov said, adding that a Putin–Trump meeting was not currently planned. He nonetheless pointed to “huge opportunities” for U.S.–Russian economic cooperation if progress were achieved.
The discussions touched on what Moscow calls the “territorial problem” — Russia’s claims to the entire Donbas region, parts of which remain under Ukrainian control. Although Russia asserts the area as its own, almost all countries recognise Donbas as part of Ukraine.
Ushakov said some U.S. draft proposals appeared “more or less acceptable” but others were “not suitable” for Russia. “The work will continue,” he said.
Trump, speaking in Washington before the meeting concluded, said resolving the conflict had been a persistent challenge for his administration, calling the situation a “mess” and citing monthly casualty figures of 25,000 to 30,000.
The talks in Moscow come after a leaked set of 28 U.S. draft peace proposals last month alarmed Ukraine and several European governments, who said the ideas conceded too much to Moscow. European powers subsequently offered a counter-proposal, and U.S. and Ukrainian officials said after consultations in Geneva that they had agreed on an “updated and refined peace framework.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, speaking in Dublin, said he feared Washington might lose interest in pushing the peace effort forward. “There will be no easy solutions,” he said. “It is important that everything is fair and open, so that there are no games behind Ukraine’s back.”
Putin, speaking shortly before the Kremlin meeting, warned Europe that Russia did not seek war but said any conflict initiated by European powers would “end so swiftly that there would be no one left to negotiate with.” He threatened to cut off Ukraine’s access to the sea in response to recent drone attacks on tankers in Russia’s so-called shadow fleet in the Black Sea.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said Putin’s remarks showed the Russian leader was not ready to end the war, now nearing its third year since Moscow’s February 2022 invasion.
