Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that several proposals in the US plan to end the war in Ukraine are unacceptable to the Kremlin, signaling that a resolution remains distant, according to comments published on 4 December, according to AP.
Putin, speaking to India Today before a state visit to New Delhi, described the discussions with US officials as “necessary” and “useful,” but added they were “difficult work” with some proposals Russia could not accept.
The five-hour meeting at the Kremlin on 2 December involved Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. The US delegation was scheduled to meet the Ukrainian team led by Rustem Umerov later Thursday at the Shell Bay Club in Hallandale Beach, though there was no immediate confirmation that the meeting took place, an official told reporters on condition of anonymity.
Putin said that the proposals were based on prior US-Russia discussions, including his meeting with Trump in Alaska in August, and contained new elements. “We had to go through practically every point, which is why it took so much time,” he said. “It was a meaningful, highly specific and substantive conversation. Sometimes we said, ‘Yes, we can discuss this, but with that one we cannot agree.’”
Trump said on 3 December that Witkoff and Kushner came away confident that Putin “wants to find an end to the war.” He added, “Their impression was very strongly that he’d like to make a deal.”
The initial US 28-point peace proposal was reduced to 27 points and split into four packages. Putin did not clarify which points Russia could accept or reject, emphasizing that premature disclosure could disrupt the ongoing negotiation process. “To say now what exactly doesn’t suit us or where we could possibly agree seems premature, since it might disrupt the very mode of operation that President Trump is trying to establish,” he said.
He reiterated that Russia intends to achieve its objectives in the eastern Donetsk Oblast. “All this boils down to one thing: Either we take back these territories by force, or eventually Ukrainian troops withdraw,” Putin said.
European leaders, largely excluded from the direct US-Russia-Ukraine talks, questioned Russia’s commitment to the peace initiative. French President Emmanuel Macron met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing to urge pressure on Moscow, though Xi’s response was limited: “China supports all efforts that work towards peace.”
