US-Russia talks on Ukraine were 'constructive' but work remains, Putin
adviser says
[December 03, 2025]
Talks between Russia and the U.S. on ending the nearly four-year war in
Ukraine were constructive, but much work remains, Yuri Ushakov, a senior
adviser to President Vladimir Putin, told reporters on Wednesday.
Putin met U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and
son-in-law Jared Kushner in the Kremlin in talks that began late Tuesday
as part of a renewed push by the Trump administration to broker a peace
deal. Both sides agreed not to disclose the substance of the talks.
Ushakov called the five-hour conversation “rather useful, constructive,
rather substantive,” but added that the framework of the U.S. peace
proposal was discussed rather than “specific wording.” Asked whether
peace was closer or further away after these talks, Ushakov said: “Not
further, that’s for sure.”
"But there’s still a lot of work to be done, both in Washington and in
Moscow. That’s what’s been agreed upon. And contacts will continue,” the
official said.
Putin's aide also said that “so far, a compromise hasn’t been found” on
the issue of territories, without which, he said, the Kremlin sees “no
resolution to the crisis.”
“Some of the American proposals seem more or less acceptable, but they
need to be discussed. Some of the wording that was proposed to us
doesn’t suit us. So, the work will continue,” Ushakov said.
There were other points of disagreement, although Ushakov did not
provide further details. “We could agree on some things, and the
president confirmed this to his interlocutors. Other things provoked
criticism, and the president also didn’t hide our critical and even
negative attitude toward a number of proposals,” he said.
Trump peace plan is center of effort to end the war
The meeting came days after U.S. officials held talks with a Ukrainian
team in Florida and which U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described
in cautiously optimistic terms.
At the center of the effort is Trump’s peace plan that became public
last month and raised concerns about being tilted heavily toward Moscow.
The proposal granted some of the Kremlin’s core demands that Kyiv has
rejected as nonstarters, such as Ukraine ceding the entire eastern
region of the Donbas to Russia and renouncing its bid to join NATO.
Negotiators have indicated the framework has changed, but it’s not clear
how. Ushakov said several iterations of a peace plan were being
discussed at the talks. The official refused to go into details, saying
only: “At first there was one version, then this version was revised,
and instead of one document, a few more appeared.”
On Tuesday, Putin accused Kyiv’s European allies of sabotaging the
U.S.-led efforts to end the war.
“They don’t have a peace agenda, they’re on the side of the war,” Putin
said of the Europeans.
Putin 's accusations appeared to be his latest attempt to sow dissension
between Trump and European countries and set the stage for exempting
Moscow from blame for any lack of progress.
He accused Europe of amending peace proposals with “demands that are
absolutely unacceptable to Russia,” thus “blocking the entire peace
process” and blaming Moscow for it. He also reiterated his long-held
position that Russia has no plans to attack Europe -- a concern
regularly voiced by some European countries.
"But if Europe suddenly wants to wage a war with us and starts it, we
are ready right away. There can be no doubt about that,” Putin said.
Russia started the war in 2022 with its full-scale invasion of a
sovereign European country, and European governments have since spent
billions of dollars to support Ukraine financially and militarily, to
wean themselves from energy dependence on Russia, and to strengthen
their own militaries to deter Moscow from seizing more territory by
force.
They worry that if Russia gets what it wants in Ukraine, it will have
free rein to threaten or disrupt other European countries, which already
have faced incursions from Russian drones and fighter jets, and an
alleged widespread Russian sabotage campaign.
Trump’s peace plan relies on Europe to provide the bulk of the financing
and security guarantees for a postwar Ukraine, even though no Europeans
appear to have been consulted on the original plan. That's why European
governments have pushed to ensure that peace efforts address their
concerns, too.
[to top of second column]
|
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Russian Presidential
foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov, left, attend talks with U.S.
special envoy Steve Witkoff, back to a camera, at the Senate Palace
of the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025. (Alexander
Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Coinciding with Witkoff’s trip, Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelenskyy went to Ireland, continuing his visits to European
countries that have helped sustain his country’s fight against
Russia’s invasion.
High-stakes negotiations
Zelenskyy said Tuesday he was expecting swift reports from the U.S.
envoys in Moscow on whether talks could move forward, after Trump’s
initial 28-point plan was whittled down to 20 items in Sunday’s
talks between U.S. and Ukrainian officials in Florida.
“The future and the next steps depend on these signals. Such steps
will change throughout today, even hour by hour, I believe,”
Zelenskyy said at a news conference in Dublin with Irish Prime
Minister Micheál Martin.
“If the signals show fair play with our partners, we then might meet
very soon, meet with the American delegation,” he said.
“There is a lot of dialogue, but we need results. Our people are
dying every day," Zelenskyy said. “I am ready ... to meet with
President Trump. It all depends on today’s talks.”
Building on progress in Florida
After months of frustration in trying to stop the fighting, Trump
deployed officials to get traction for his peace proposals. Asked
about a possible meeting between Putin and Trump, presidential aide
Ushakov said it would depend on the progress of the peace effort.
The talks have followed parallel lines so far, with Rubio sitting
down with Ukrainian officials. Zelenskyy said he met Tuesday with
the Ukrainian delegation that returned from the negotiations with
U.S. representatives in Florida. Rubio said those talks made
progress.
Zelenskyy said the Florida talks took as their cue a document that
both sides drafted at an earlier meeting in Geneva. The Ukrainian
leader said that document was now “finalized,” although he didn’t
explain what that meant.
Ukrainian diplomats are working to ensure that European partners are
“substantially involved” in decision-making, Zelenskyy said on the
Telegram messaging app, and warned about what he said were Russian
disinformation campaigns aimed at steering the negotiations.
European leaders want a say
Zelenskyy met with political leaders and lawmakers in Dublin on his
first official visit. Ireland is officially neutral and isn't a
member of NATO but has sent nonlethal military support to Ukraine.
More than 100,000 Ukrainians have moved to Ireland since Russia
launched its war on Feb. 24, 2022.
It remains unclear how envoys are going to bridge the gap between
the two sides on such basic differences as who keeps what territory.
European officials say the road to peace will be long.
European leaders want to make their voices heard after being largely
sidelined by Washington. They are also working on future security
guarantees for Ukraine.
Zelenskyy under pressure
Zelenskyy is under severe pressure in one of the darkest periods of
the war for his country. As well as managing diplomatic pressure, he
must find money to keep Ukraine afloat, address a corruption scandal
that has reached the top echelons of his government, and keep Russia
at bay on the battlefield.
The Kremlin late Monday claimed that Russian forces have captured
the key city of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
Zelenskyy, however, said in Paris that fighting was still ongoing in
Pokrovsk on Monday.
Ukraine’s general staff on Tuesday also denied Russia’s claims to
have captured Pokrovsk, saying it was a propaganda stunt. The
Ukrainian army is readying additional logistic routes to deliver
supplies to troops in the area, the Facebook post said.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
