US envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, held five hours of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his advisers at the Kremlin on Tuesday to discuss a potential peace plan to end the war in Ukraine, but the meeting ended with no sign of a breakthrough.
Yury Ushakov, a top aide to Putin, said that the talks were “useful, constructive and meaningful” but that no compromises were reached. “Some American proposals are acceptable to Russia, while others are not,” he said.
Ushakov said that the US presented proposals on territorial control, one of the main sticking points in the negotiations, and declined to share more details about the conversation.
“We agreed with our American colleagues not to disclose the substance of the negotiations that took place. The discussion was confidential,” Ushakov told reporters.
The original 28-point US proposal that was leaked to the media required Ukraine to cede what territory it controls in the Donbas, a key Russian demand to end the war. But Ukraine has been resistant to the idea of ceding any territory, and the US proposal was altered during talks between US and Ukrainian officials.
Ushakov said that another meeting between Trump and Putin could happen, but that it required more progress to be made on the potential peace deal. “A possible meeting at the presidential level will depend on how much progress we can make along this line. We will continue [talks] at the level of representatives and assistants,” he said.
Another main sticking point in the negotiations is the issue of security guarantees, and Ukraine’s European backers are insisting on deploying troops to a post-war Ukraine, an idea that’s been repeatedly rejected by Moscow. The insistence on a troop deployment or NATO-style security guarantees could ultimately sabotage the chances of a deal.
