Trump, the first reaction after the 5-hour discussion of his emissaries with Putin: “It takes two to dance the tango” / What is happening today in Florida

US President Donald Trump assured Wednesday that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin wants to “end the war” in Ukraine, a day after a “very good meeting” in Moscow between the Kremlin leader and his emissary, Steve Witkoff, who will hold talks in Florida on Thursday with Kiev's chief negotiator, Rustem Umerov, reports AFP, ABC News and The Guardian.

For two weeks, Washington has been trying to enact a plan to end the war sparked by Russia's February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

But trying to find a compromise is very difficult, while on the front the Russian army continues to advance slowly, despite considerable losses.

New negotiations in the US

Negotiations continue Thursday with a meeting in the Miami region between Umerov and Witkoff, a Florida real estate developer with no diplomatic experience, who will be accompanied by the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

The two Americans were in Moscow on Tuesday to talk for over five hours with Putin. They had the “impression” that the Russian president “wanted to end the war”, Donald Trump told reporters on Wednesday, without giving details on further negotiations, although it became clear that a peace agreement has not yet been reached, as the White House leader has long wanted.

“What will come out of this meeting? I can't tell you, because it takes two to tango,” Trump said.

“I think they would like to get back to a more normal life. I think they would like to trade with the United States, frankly, rather than lose thousands of troops a week. But their impression was very strong that they would like to make a deal,” Trump said of Putin.

Russia is counting on the advance on the front

The Russian president's diplomatic adviser, Yuri Ushakov, estimated on Wednesday that recent Russian military “successes” had “influenced the conduct” of this meeting, referring to Moscow's claimed capture of the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine.

Military observers of the DeepState project, close to Ukrainian forces, confirmed that a large part of the city is under Russian control, but not all of it.

And the Ukrainian unit defending the sector said Russian forces were “entrenched” in urban fighting and were disseminating information to “misinform” about the “alleged capture of the city of Pokrovsk”.

Zelenskiy is still calling for pressure on Russia

Since Washington presented its plan to end the conflict, initially considered, especially by Europeans, to be close to Moscow's positions, it has been revised following consultations with the Ukrainians.

During a meeting that took place in Brussels on Wednesday, in the presence of Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov, several NATO member countries, including Norway, Poland and Germany, announced that they would purchase US weapons worth approximately one billion euros for the benefit of Ukraine.

The Alliance's Secretary General, Mark Rutte, believed that NATO must ensure that “Ukraine is in the strongest possible position to continue the fight.”

“Negotiations must be accompanied by pressure on Russia,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky repeated in a video message on Wednesday.

In the same spirit, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, presented in Brussels on Wednesday the EU plan to finance Ukraine for a period of two years and to “put it in a position of strength” in the discussions.

Intense diplomatic activity has so far failed to reach an agreement, especially on the sensitive issue of territories: Moscow in particular wants Kiev to hand over the entire Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, which remains the epicenter of the fighting.

Moscow, ready for new meetings with American negotiators

On another sensitive issue, the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday voted on a non-binding resolution calling on Moscow to “guarantee the return” of Ukrainian children “forcibly transferred or deported” to Russia.

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday Moscow was willing to meet “as often as necessary” with US officials to find a solution to the war.

On the other hand, a Russian official told reporters that “so far no compromise has been reached” on the territory issue, without which the Kremlin sees “no solution to the crisis.”

London critics

Hours before his Kremlin meeting with Witkoff and Kushner, however, Vladimir Putin threatened the Europeans, accusing them of trying to “obstruct” peace efforts.

“We do not intend to go to war with Europe, but if Europe wants it and starts, we are ready right now,” the Russian leader said.

Proof that the Russian president “does not take peace seriously”, the spokesman of the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer reacted on Wednesday.