Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said there is a better chance “now than ever” to reach a deal to end Russia’s war against Ukraine, even as his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, accused European governments of trying to block the peace process.
Zelenskyy’s comments came as US special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow for talks on a U.S.-draft peace proposal.
Witkoff and U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, flew to the Russian capital on December 2 to meet Putin and senior negotiators after an initial 28-point U.S. proposal -- widely seen as aligning with several Russian objectives -- was “refined” to 19 points following talks between American and Ukrainian delegations last week.
European governments had also submitted amendments and a counterproposal to the draft plan, seeking to remove or soften provisions they said undermined Ukraine’s sovereignty.
But Moscow has rejected those European changes outright. According to the Russian news agency Interfax, Putin claimed the European amendments were intended to obstruct progress on the deal.
Speaking ahead of his meeting with Witkoff and Kushner, Putin said Russia was prepared to involve European states in negotiations as long as they recognize what he called "the realities on the battlefield” in Ukraine.
“We have no intention of fighting Europe, I’ve said that 100 times,” Putin said. “But if Europe wants to fight again and starts, then we are ready for that immediately.”
The European Union has repeatedly said it will not accept a violent redrawing of Europe’s borders and that only Ukraine can decide the future of its territory.
Putin continues to insist that Ukraine must surrender the eastern Donbas region to secure peace, including areas Russia has failed to seize in more than three and a half years of war. Kyiv has rejected those conditions and pushed back on Moscow’s attempts to limit Ukraine’s NATO aspirations or cap the size of its armed forces.
"Now more than ever, there is a chance to end this war," Zelenskyy said at a press conference in Dublin after meeting with Ireland's prime minister, Micheal Martin, on December 2.
"Our common task is to end the war, not just to achieve a pause in hostilities. A dignified peace is needed. For this to truly happen, everyone must be on the side of peace."
Witkoff walked into the grounds of the Kremlin on December 2 accompanied by Kirill Dmitriev, Putin's special envoy for investment and economic cooperation who has been leading the talks for Moscow. It will be Witkoff's sixth meeting with Putin since January.
Ukraine has openly voiced concerns that Washington and Moscow will agree to a plan to end Europe's largest and deadliest conflict since World War II.
Trump campaigned in 2024 on a claim he could solve the war in 24 hours, but getting an agreement to end Russia's full-scale invasion -- launched in February 2022 -- has proven difficult. Trump has expressed frustration with both sides as talks sputtered for months until intensifying once again in recent weeks.
Moscow has repeatedly said it must control all of Donetsk, one of five Ukrainian regions Putin baselessly claims are Russian. Ceding land that Ukraine's forces have kept out of Russia's clutches at great cost would be a massive concession by Kyiv and could have political repercussions for Zelenskyy.
Ukraine fears some of the terms of the proposal would leave it prone to eventual conquest by Russia, though the United States has also floated a 10-year security guarantee for Kyiv.
Earlier on December 2, Russia claimed it had captured the key city of Pokrovsk in Ukraine's Donbas region, which Kyiv has been struggling for months to hold on to.
The Ukrainian military's eastern command rejected the claim in a post on Facebook, saying Russian forces had used poor weather conditions to plant their flag in a district of Pokrovsk for propaganda purposes, in an attempt to prove that they had taken control of the entire city.
"After that, they fled in a hurry," the statement added.
Putin has said he is ready to talk peace but that if Ukraine refuses an agreement, then Russia's forces will advance further and take more Ukrainian territory.
Some of Witkoff's prior actions have raised alarm bells to outside observers, who fear he is being manipulated or that he misunderstands the war's deeply intractable historical contours.
Witkoff has relied on translators provided by the Kremlin for his conversations with Putin and other officials rather than using translators authorized by the US Embassy.
After Witkoff's last meeting with Putin in August, US and European officials said the envoy misunderstood the geography of Ukrainian territory Putin was claiming.
Several media outlets quoted sources as saying Witkoff and Kushner could meet Zelenskyy after the Kremlin talks.
Zelenskyy said he expects to hear from the US team right after the Moscow talks and that he remains ready to meet Trump depending on the outcome of the December 2 discussions.
