Ukraine Peace Efforts Further Stalled After US-Kremlin Talks Make Little Headway

Summary

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is returning to Kyiv without meeting up with Steve Witkoff after the US special envoy held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said the US-Russia talks, which lasted almost five hours, were "useful, constructive, and meaningful," though analysts said it appears the drive to end the conflict has hit a brick wall.
A US proposal, which has been revised to 19 points from 28 points, addresses contentious issues like Ukraine's NATO ambitions and control of the Donbas region, but key disagreements persist.
Ukraine fears the deal might leave it vulnerable to future Russian aggression, despite a proposed 10-year US security guarantee.

Efforts to find a resolution to halt Russia's nearly 4-year-old war on Ukraine appear to hit a brick wall after a Moscow meeting between US negotiators and President Vladimir Putin as Kremlin and Russian officials signal little willingness to back down from hard-line demands.

White House special envoy Steve Witkoff flew back to the United States on December 3 without meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, following five hours of Kremlin talks on a US-drafted peace proposal seen as heavily tilted toward Russian interests.

It was widely expected that the US delegation, which included Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, would meet up with Zelenskyy somewhere in Europe afterward as the Ukrainian leader was in Ireland.

Instead, a day after some of the most intense diplomatic efforts to end Europe's largest conflict since World War II, Zelenskyy said Ukraine's negotiators would hold talks with European national-security advisers and then travel to the United States.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha told reporters in Brussels while attending a NATO foreign ministers meeting "there was contact between the head of the Ukrainian delegation and Mr. Witkoff" after the meeting, with the American delegation saying the talks had a "positive outcome." He gave no further details.

US President Donald Trump has yet to speak publicly on the meeting, but British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the lack of any progress showed Putin currently has no interest in reaching an agreement to end Europe's largest and deadliest conflict since World War II.

"We all know that Putin is dragging his feet, not wanting to come to the table, not wanting to reach an agreement," Starmer told Britain's House of Commons during a question period on December 3.

"We have to continue to put pressure on in every conceivable way.... That is in supporting Ukraine with capability and resource, but also ensuring that our sanctions, acting with allies, do as much damage to the economy in Russia as we can, and pressure that we can put on, will continue to do so."

Moscow's Hard-Line Demands

Witkoff, a real estate developer with no previous diplomatic experience, made no comment to Russian media after leaving the Kremlin following his sixth meeting with Putin, heading to the US Embassy instead before flying back to the United States.

Right after the meeting, Yuri Ushakov, a veteran diplomat and Putin's top foreign policy adviser, described the meeting as "constructive" but told Russian press that peace was no closer or farther away.

While the two sides agreed to keep details of the talks out of the public domain, Ushakov told reporters in Moscow on December 3 that Ukraine's participation in the NATO military alliance was "one of the key issues" discussed.

"The American partners have confirmed their readiness to take into account our considerations and our key proposals," Ushakov added.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told a news conference in Brussels that it was a good sign that talks were ongoing but the alliance's members must support Kyiv to put it in the strongest position possible during the negotiations.

"We have to make sure that while they take place, and we are not sure when they will end, that Ukraine is in the strongest possible position to keep the fight going, to fight back against the Russians," Rutte said.

Just before the talks, Zelenskyy said there is a better chance "now than ever" to reach a deal. That contrasted sharply with Putin hours later accusing European governments of trying to block the peace process while issuing a warning that if Europe wants to start a war with Russia then Moscow was ready to fight.

Witkoff and Kushner flew to the Russian capital after an initial 28-point U.S. proposal that caught Ukraine off guard.

That document -- 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.

"The meeting was never a negotiation. It was a deliberate, unambiguous presentation of Russia's preconditions. Putin is now waiting to see whether this direct message will shift Trump's stance," said Tatyana Stanovaya, a Russian political analyst who now lives abroad.

Ahead of his meetings on December 2, Putin sounded a belligerent note, warning that Russia would 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."

Europe Refuses To Redraw Borders

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 has insisted Ukraine 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.

Ukraine has openly voiced concerns that Washington and Moscow will agree to a plan to end Europe's largest land war since 1945.

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 proved difficult. Trump has expressed frustration with both sides as talks sputtered for months until intensifying again in recent weeks.

Ukraine fears some terms of any peace plan will leave it prone to eventual conquest by Russia, though the United States has also floated a 10-year security guarantee for Kyiv.

Putin has said he is ready to talk peace but that if Ukraine refuses an agreement, Russia's forces will advance further and take more Ukrainian territory.

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Holding The Line: Ukrainian Troops Battle Russia's Push Toward Pokrovsk

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.