LAST HOUR The first announcements from the Kremlin, after Putin's 5-hour meeting with Trump's team. An upbeat, one-word message vs. “There's still a lot to do”
Russian President Vladimir Putin, during the meeting with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, in the Kremlin, Moscow, on December 2, 2025. PHOTO: AA/ABACA / Abaca Press / Profimedia
Russian President Vladimir Putin's meeting with US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner in the Kremlin on Tuesday has ended, the press service of the Russian presidency announced, according to Reuters, CNN and Sky News.
Discussions on a possible solution to end Europe's bloodiest conflict since World War II lasted nearly five hours.
State news agency RIA reported that Witkoff traveled to the US embassy in Moscow after the Kremlin talks ended.
In a post on the X social network, Putin's emissary Kirill Dmitriev, who sat at the table of the talks, wrote only one word – describing the negotiations as “productive”. Dmitriev accompanied his post with an emoticon symbolizing a dove of peace.
“We are no closer” to the end of the war in Ukraine
But another adviser to the Russian president, Yuri Ushakov, said, according to BBC News: “We are no closer to solving the crisis in Ukraine and there is still a lot to do.” Ushakov is the other foreign policy adviser present at the negotiating table from Russia.
However, Ushakov said the talks were “constructive, very useful and substantial.”
In statements made to Russian media shortly after the meeting ended, the Russian foreign policy adviser stated that there is not yet “a compromise version” of the peace plan for Ukraine. Ushakov added that some US proposals are acceptable to Russia, but others are not.
He also said that territorial concessions from Ukraine were also discussed, as well as economic cooperation between Russia and the US.
Ushakov added that Russia had received four documents in addition to the original 28-point plan and that Moscow and Washington had agreed not to disclose further details of the Kremlin negotiations.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin met with US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in the Kremlin on Tuesday to discuss a possible solution to end Europe's bloodiest conflict since the end of World War II, Reuters previously reported.
“I am very glad to see you.” Putin welcomes Trump envoys Witkoff and Kushner to Kremlin to discuss US peace plan in Ukraine
Even before the Kremlin meeting, Putin accused Europe of trying to undermine Trump's peace efforts by making proposals he knows Moscow will find unacceptable. “They are on the side of war,” Putin said of the European powers. “We can clearly see that all these changes have only one goal: to block the entire peace process, to make demands that are absolutely unacceptable for Russia,” the Russian president said.
A series of 28 preliminary Washington peace proposals were leaked last week, alarming Ukrainian and European officials.
Russia's main demands include a commitment by Ukraine to never join NATO, limitation of the Ukrainian military, Russian control of the entire Donbas (Donetsk and Luhansk regions), recognition of Moscow's control of the Crimea, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, and protection for Russian speakers in Ukraine.
Ukraine argues that these demands would amount to a capitulation and leave it vulnerable to a possible takeover by Russia, although Washington has also proposed a 10-year security guarantee for Kiev.
