US President Donald Trump has said that the further course of peace talks is unclear after a meeting between Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and US envoys, Reuters writes.
The Kremlin reported on the 3rd of December that Putin had accepted some of the US proposals for ending the war in Ukraine and was ready to continue working to reach a compromise.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said that his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had briefed him on the progress of the talks in a phone call, and that both had the impression that Putin wanted to make a deal. However, what will happen next is still unclear, Trump added.
The US could not say what the outcome of the meeting would be because “it takes two to tango.” He noted that quite good work has been done with Ukraine. The White House reported that on the 4th of December, Witkoff and Kushner will meet with Ukrainian officials in Miami.
Asked whether it would be correct to say that Putin has rejected the US offer, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov gave a negative answer. Peskov said that on the 2nd of December,
a direct exchange of views took place for the first time, and some points were accepted, while others were unacceptable:
“This is a normal working process of finding a compromise.” However, the Kremlin also announced that a compromise had not yet been found.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening address that his team was preparing for talks in the US, and that dialogue with Trump’s representatives would continue. He said that a dignified peace is possible only if Ukraine’s interests are also taken into account. The talks have intensified at a difficult time for Kiev, which is losing territory in the east of the country and the government is being torn apart by its biggest corruption scandal since the war began. Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, who had also led the peace talks delegation until now, resigned on the 28th of November after the anti-corruption bureau raided his residence. Two ministers have also been dismissed, and Zelensky’s business partner has been named as a suspect in a corruption case.
Peskov said Russia was grateful for Trump’s efforts but would not comment further on the talks, as the publicity could be unconstructive.
The initial US peace plan was made public in late November and caused concern in both Kiev and the European Union because it was so favorable to Moscow. The Europeans offered their own peace plan, and the US and Ukraine, meeting in Geneva, revised the American plan. Putin responded to the European version of the peace plan by saying that the Europeans are trying to disrupt the peace talks by proposing ideas that are completely unacceptable to Russia.
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