Putin Meets Kushner and Witkoff in Moscow, but No Breakthrough on Territorial Issues

Yesterday in Moscow, Vladimir Putin held talks with U.S. Presidential Special Envoy Steven Witkoff and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

After the meeting, the Russian side said that the talks did not focus on specific wording of a peace plan but on its broader substance. A compromise remains out of reach, Orda.kz reports.

From the Russian side, the meeting included presidential aide Yuri Ushakov and special representative Kirill Dmitriev.

Following five hours of discussions, Ushakov told reporters the talks were “useful and good.”

Trump's representatives conveyed greetings and best wishes from their president to Vladimir Putin. In turn, our president asked his partners to convey friendly greetings to Trump. Naturally, he conveyed not only friendly greetings but also a number of important political signals, which his interlocutors noted and, naturally, will report back to Washington,
 said Ushakov.

We discussed not the specific wording or American proposals, but the essence of what was contained in these documents. We could agree on some things, and the president confirmed this to his interlocutors; others provoked criticism, and the president also made no secret of our critical, even negative, attitude toward a number of proposals. But the main thing is that we had a very useful discussion. And most importantly, the parties declared their readiness to continue working together to achieve a long-term peace settlement in Ukraine,
 he said.

According to Ushakov, the talks centered on territorial issues, which Moscow views as essential to any settlement, as well as the future outlook for economic cooperation.

Other points noted by Ushakov:

• Contact between the U.S. and Russia will continue “at the level of representatives and assistants.” A Putin–Trump meeting will depend on progress made
• Russia received Trump’s 28-point peace plan, but the discussion focused on four revised documents, not disclosed publicly, all related to a long-term settlement in Ukraine
• A compromise on territory has not been reached. Some U.S. proposals seem “more or less acceptable,” but require further discussion
• Both sides agreed not to reveal details of the negotiations because they are classified
• Putin criticized what he described as Europe’s “destructive actions” regarding the peace process
• Ushakov said Kushner and Witkoff “didn't promise to go to Kyiv, but they promised to return home, to their native Washington” 

Meanwhile, Axios reported they would travel to a European country for talks with Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Zelenskyy wrote yesterday that “there will be no simple solutions to end the war.”

It's not a question of the difficulty of making decisions. I'm capable of making them. It's important that everything is fair and open. That there's no playing behind Ukraine's back. That nothing about us, about our future, is decided without Ukraine,
 he said.

According to Zelenskyy, the toughest issues involve territory, frozen assets, and security guarantees.

On November 30, delegations from Ukraine and the United States held discussions on the peace plan in Florida.

Original Author: Oksana Matvienko