Witkoff, Putin, Kushner Ukraine Peace Meeting Ends "Without Compromise Option"

As expected, Putin's meeting in Moscow with US 'negotiators' Witkoff and Kushner ended 'without compromise,' which is a polite way of saying 'nyet' in terms meant not to offend President Trump. 

The reason that this proposal is unlikely to ever result in peace is that Witkoff and Kushner - with Trump's evident backing - are virtually salivating at the prospect of investment deals they see possible in Russia and Ukraine. But in order to make this even slightly palatable to US senators and congressmen, as well as Europe, they need Putin to throw them a few compromises they can then claim as major breakthrough concessions. He is unwilling to do so because he understands their greed and believes they will eventually succumb. The problem with that, though, is that Trump's popularity is plummeting in the US so his power to force a one-sided deal has diminished. So, the likely outcome is further discussion - and death - since neither side is considered capable of knocking the other out of the war, but neither are they believed capable of losing. JL

Mary Ilyushina and Ellen Francis report in the Washington Post:

Five hours of talks in Moscow between the U.S. delegation and Russian President Vladimir Putin over a U.S. plan to resolve the war in Ukraine ended without a “compromise option,” the Kremlin said Wednesday. It did not appear as if the swift end to the conflict desired by President Donald Trump is near. Ukrainian and European officials expressed doubt about Putin’s interest in ending the war diplomatically. "Russia is not meeting them with any flexibility.”

Five hours of talks in Moscow between the U.S. delegation and Russian President Vladimir Putin over a U.S. plan to resolve the war in Ukraine ended without a “compromise option,” the Kremlin said Wednesday, adding that its military victories had swayed the Americans.

 

Even without a comprehensive briefing on what transpired during the lengthy talks, it did not appear as if the swift end to the conflict desired by President Donald Trump is near. Ukrainian and European officials expressed doubt on Wednesday about Putin’s interest in ending the war diplomatically.“So far no compromise option has been found, but some American proposals appear more or less acceptable,” said Putin’s top foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, who attended the meeting and spoke to Russian media right afterward. “The president did not hide our critical or negative view of certain proposals.”

Later on Wednesday, Ushakov said the Russian “successes on the front in recent weeks have had a positive impact on the course and nature” of talks and forced the United States and the West at large to make “more adequate assessments of the situation in Ukraine.”

Following Trump’s second term

His remarks echoes Putin’s constant assertions that any deal must be based on “realities on the ground” and that he is not prepared to make concessions since he believes his army can succeed militarily.

The U.S. delegation for the first time includes Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner joining the president’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff.

 As they were headed to Moscow on Monday, Putin and his top brass announced the capture of Pokrovsk, a key logistics hub in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine that could pave way for Russian forces to capture the two remaining key cities in the area still under Ukrainian control.

The Ukrainian military has said fierce fighting is still underway. A senior NATO official said that though Russian forces “currently control over 95 percent of the city,” no collapse of wider Ukrainian defensive lines is expected.

 

“If and when captured, it is likely that Russia will use the city for logistics and as a springboard to attack other cities in Donetsk [region],” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic. “Still, an imminent collapse of Ukrainian defenses is unlikely in the near term … Taking the remainder of Donetsk oblast is not a realistic possibility for the Russians for at least another year or two.”

NATO officials have previously assessed it would take Russia at least three to four years to fully capture Donetsk. One of Russia’s demands for a ceasefire is for Ukraine to relinquish the remaining 20 percent of the region it still holds.

The U.S. delegation presented Putin with four documents outlining Washington’s plan.

 The Kremlin said the two sides agreed not to share the contents of the talks with the media to avoid “megaphone diplomacy,” but analysts believe the four documents break down the initial 28-point plan into four separate issues, probably dealing with territory, economic reintegration of both countries and security guarantees.

 

Ushakov said the discussion touched directly on territorial issues, which Moscow considers essential to any resolution, as well as the “huge opportunities” for future U.S.-Russia economic cooperation, which is something Moscow has been pitching to Washington in a bid to expand the potential truce in Ukraine talks to restoring wider bilateral relations.

“But some American proposals appear more or less acceptable — and they need to be discussed,” Ushakov added. “Certain wording we were offered is unacceptable. So, the work will continue.”

Alexander Baunov, an analyst with Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, said that Moscow views the initial 28-point plant as its starting point in negotiations and won’t accept a version that makes the proposal less favorable to the Kremlin. Before the meeting, U.S. and Ukrainian negotiators had modified the proposal to make it more palatable to Kyiv — it is not clear if that was the proposal presented to Putin.

“Putin is happy with the war’s progress. He changes into his military uniform three times a month and personally commands generals over maps,” Baunov said in a Telegram post, referring to Putin’s increasingly frequent television appearances in uniform to receive positive war news.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that he expects a debrief from the U.S. side once the talks with Russia conclude, though it remains unclear when that update will arrive.

 Flight-tracking data showed Witkoff’s jet returning directly to the United States from Moscow.

 

Meanwhile, NATO foreign ministers who are convening in Brussels on Wednesday said they would assess progress in the talks on the U.S. plan. But several European officials conceded early Wednesday that they still did not know their outcome.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is skipping the meeting in Brussels, fueling European unease that key allies are being sidelined in negotiations with Russia. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau joined his counterparts at NATO instead.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, center, with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and Britain's Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper during the NATO meeting in Brussels on Wednesday. (Omar Havana/Getty Images)

Rubio, who was also not part of the Moscow delegation, said late Tuesday that “some progress” had been made on the truce proposal, but “we’re still not there — we’re still not close enough.” He stressed that “only Putin can end this war on the Russian side,” and highlighted a major sticking point: Moscow’s demand that Ukrainian forces withdraw from the entire Donbas region. Ukraine has long rejected ceding territory Russia has failed to seize militarily.

 

“What they’re literally fighting over now is about a 30- to 50-kilometer space and the 20 percent of the Donetsk region that remains,” Rubio said on 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 they’re never going to be invaded again.”

Ukraine’s positions have been weakened by a high-level corruption scandal that engulfed Zelensky’s inner circle, and swallowed up his longtime controversial adviser Andriy Yermak. Kyiv is also under severe financial pressure as direct U.S. funding dried up and European governments scramble to unlock new funds to aid Ukraine. Russia, too, is straining under war costs and declining oil revenue, with its newly approved three-year federal budget projecting a deficit.

 

Some analysts argued that the costs of waging the war for both sides are beginning to outweigh the political practicality of continuing it, providing the current U.S. effort with more of an opening to achieve a truce.

“Putin is not in the position of a person who wants peace at any cost, so for now he is only prepared to end the war on terms that suit him,” said Vladimir Pastukhov, Russia expert and honorary professor at University College London. “The terms of this peace will be unfair, humiliating for Ukraine, and offensive for Europe. However, they will be significantly less unfair, humiliating, and offensive than the terms of the Istanbul Agreement initialed in the spring of 2022.”

 

“There is no reason to believe that the parties will take advantage of the window of opportunity that has arisen, but it is safe to say that they currently have one,” Pastukhov added in his Telegram blog post.

Tatiana Stanovaya, also of the Carnegie Center, said that Moscow’s main calculation in the talks with the U.S. is to get Washington to “pressure Kyiv to accept these terms as the only viable route to peace.”

Ahead of the talks with Witkoff and Kushner, Putin threatened to cut Ukraine off from Black Sea access, blaming attacks on oil tankers on Kyiv — accusations Ukraine denied. He also declared that Russia is prepared for a war with Europe “right now if Europe starts it,” rhetoric that deepened Kyiv’s doubts about the feasibility of a ceasefire.

“For the second day in a row, Putin makes statements that demonstrate that he does not plan to end the war,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X. “Russia must stop wasting the world’s time, which must be the time for peace.”

Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel called Putin’s comments about potential conflict with Europe “horrible” during a meeting in Brussels, adding that this should be taken as “a serious warning” for European nations to boost their defenses.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys said while the U.S. efforts for peace were constant, “we have also to admit that Russia is not meeting them with any flexibility.”