Journalism of Courage
Ukraine Peace Plan Update: Talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to end the nearly four-year war in Ukraine were “constructive” but much work remains as “no compromise” was reached over territorial concessions by Ukraine, said Yuri Ushakov, a senior adviser to the Kremlin on Wednesday, AP reported.
The meeting between Putin, US envoy Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner lasted for about five hours in Moscow late on Tuesday. It was a renewed push by the Trump administration to broker a peace deal and end the war between Russia and Ukraine, however, both sides agreed to not reveal the substance of the talks.
The meeting in Moscow came days after a US delegation discussed the 28-point peace plan sponsored by the Trump administration with a Ukrainian team in Florida and which US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described in cautiously optimistic terms. Trump’s peace plan became public last month and it was criticised heavily to be on the Russian side.
Trump’s proposal gave green light to some key demands by the Kremlin but they have been outrightly rejected by Ukraine, including Kyiv ceding the entire eastern region of the Donbas to Moscow and renouncing its bid to join military alliance NATO. However, negotiators have signalled that the proposal has now changed but it isn’t clear how.
On Tuesday, Putin accused Ukraine’s European allies of sabotaging US-led efforts to end the war in Ukraine and said that Europe’s peace deal demands were “not acceptable”. “We are not going to fight with Europe, but if Europe wants to fight with us, we are ready right now. They don’t have a peace agenda, they’re on the side of the war,” Putin said.
Meanwhile, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said some things still need to be worked out in the draft peace proposal backed by President Trump but that “now more than ever, there is a chance to end this war.”
(with inputs from AP)
