White House special envoy Steve Witkoff flew back to the United States 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.
"They will also discuss the European component of the necessary security architecture," Zelenskyy wrote in a social media post.
Moscow's Hard-Line Demands
Efforts to find a resolution to halt Russia's nearly 4-year-old war on Ukraine appear to hit a brick wall at the Moscow meeting as Kremlin and Russian officials signaling no willingness to back down from 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.
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.
"We did not discuss particular wordings the Americans prepared, but the essence of the message," he was quoted as saying. "Some things suit us. Some things were met with our criticism."
"We do not see a chance to resolve the Ukraine crisis without territorial issues. To really move forward, it is time both for Moscow and Washington to seriously get to work."
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.
"We've made some progress, but we're not there yet," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview with Fox News.
"And so what we have tried to do -- and I think have made some progress -- is figure out what could the Ukrainians live with that gives them security guarantees for the future," Rubio said.
"Ultimately the decisions have to be made, in the case of Russia, by Putin alone, not his advisers. Putin –- only Putin can end this war on the Russian side," he added.
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.
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.
