Putin, Trump envoy Steve Witkov to hold key Ukraine talks in Moscow

Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet U.S. envoy Steve Vitkov in Moscow on Tuesday after the White House said it was “very optimistic” about a deal to end the war in Ukraine.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who serves as an outside adviser on diplomatic negotiations, is also expected to attend.

The summit follows two days of talks in Florida between Ukrainian and U.S. officials, including Vitkov and Kushner, aimed at refining a U.S.-backed peace plan that had been seen as beneficial to Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the talks “constructive” but said “there are still some thorny issues that need to be resolved.”

After meeting with French President Macron in Paris on Monday, Zelensky said that the top priority of the peace talks in Kyiv is to safeguard Ukraine’s sovereignty and ensure strong security guarantees.

Zelensky said the “territorial issue is the most difficult” part of the peace deal, and the Kremlin continues to press Ukraine to give up the eastern territories it still controls, something Kyiv has long insisted it will never do.

Vitkov also held talks with British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Zelensky and Ukraine’s new chief negotiator Rustem Umerov, while several major European leaders attended Zelensky’s meeting with Macron virtually.

Speaking on Monday, White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt said the draft peace agreement was “very polished,” adding: “I think the administration is feeling very optimistic.”

She continued: “But as for the details, I’ll let the negotiators negotiate. But we do feel good and we hope that this war will eventually end.”

Putin said last week that he had seen a draft peace plan proposed by the United States that could form the “basis” for a future agreement to end the war.

However, Kremlin officials later expressed doubts that it would accept the proposal after Kyiv and European allies said they had secured changes to the proposal.

this Preliminary draft of US-Russian peace plan The virus that spread in November sparked panic in Kyiv and across Europe.

In addition to being heavily biased in favor of Moscow’s demands, it also determines how billions of dollars Freeze Russian assets Funds currently held in European financial institutions should be invested and conditions for Ukraine’s access to European markets should be established.

Speaking on Monday, Macron said there was “no final peace plan to speak of” and insisted that any such proposals could only be developed with the participation of Ukraine and Europe.

Macron said the issue of territorial concessions “can only be finally decided by President Zelensky”, noting that issues surrounding frozen Russian assets, security guarantees and Ukraine’s accession to the European Union require the participation of European countries.

The French leader also praised the Trump administration’s efforts to end the conflict. The conflict began with Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, followed by a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Karas said this week could be “crucial” but Moscow only wanted to negotiate “with those who are just offering them something on the basis of what they have.”

She continued: “I’m worried that all the pressure will be on the weaker side because when Ukraine surrenders, that’s the easier way to stop this war… but that’s not in anyone’s interest.”

Moscow has at times appeared to be engaging with the United States in recent months to try to broker a deal to end the war, but some of its demands directly violate Ukraine’s sovereignty and are seen as unacceptable by Kiev.

While territorial issues are the main sticking point, security in Kiev is also controversial.

Kyiv and its European partners are eager for Ukraine to receive security guarantees, such as joining NATO, to protect it from another attack.

But Russia strongly opposes this, and Trump has also ruled out allowing Ukraine to join the military alliance.

Tuesday’s talks in Moscow came as Russian officials claimed to have captured the key strategic towns of Pokrovsk (known in Russian as Krasnoarmeysk in Russian) and Vovshansk in eastern Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials have not acknowledged that the two cities have fallen to Russia.

According to the Open Source Intelligence Project, which continues to monitor the war front, neither Wovshansk nor Pokrovsk has been fully occupied by Russian forces.