A protracted five-hour meeting involving Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner concluded without achieving any significant breakthroughs in efforts to resolve Russia’s conflict in Ukraine.
Witkoff and Kushner arrived in Moscow on Tuesday for discussions with the Kremlin leader, following a Sunday meeting with key members of the Ukrainian delegation regarding a revised peace proposal.
Yuri Ushakov, President Putin’s foreign policy aide, who also participated in the Witkoff-Kushner meeting alongside Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, informed reporters afterward that the conversations were “extremely useful, constructive and substantive,” according to a statement released by the Kremlin.
“We specifically addressed territorial issues, without which the crisis cannot be settled, as we see it. Of course, we also talked about the broad prospects for future economic interaction between our countries,” Ushakov remarked.
He added that the Russian side received four documents from the American envoys during the meeting, including one comprising 27 points, but he refrained from disclosing their specific contents.
An earlier 28-point plan, which was leaked, had drawn criticism from European leaders for being too favorable to Moscow and was subsequently scaled back.
The issue of territory was a central component of the discussion, Ushakov noted, indicating that no compromise had yet been found.
“However, some of the American proposals appear more or less acceptable. They do, nevertheless, require further discussion. Certain wording we have been offered is not suitable for us. In other words, the work will continue,” the senior Russian diplomat stated.
A primary sticking point in negotiations has been President Putin, who insists Ukraine relinquish the entire Donbas region, including areas not currently under its military control.
The Institute for the Study of War, a nonpartisan public policy research organization that monitors the Russia-Ukraine war, reported that Russian forces have advanced in Sumy Oblast and near Kostiantynivka, Pokrovsk, and Huliaipole.
Ukraine’s Joint Forces Task Force announced on Telegram that its forces have regained control of most of the city of Kupiansk, although Russian forces maintain isolated groups in the northern parts.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that Rustem Umerov, the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, was preparing for a meeting in Brussels with national security advisors to European leaders to brief their counterparts on the Witkoff-Kushner meeting with Putin.
“After Brussels, Rustem Umerov and Andrii Hnatov will begin preparations for a meeting with envoys of President Trump in the United States,” Zelenskyy said. “As always, Ukraine will work constructively in pursuit of a real peace. I expect a new report following the results of today’s meetings in Europe.”