A Russian official explained that the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump’s Envoy Steve Witkoff failed to come to a deal to end the war in Ukraine.
“So far, we haven’t found a compromise, but some American solutions can be discussed,” Putin’s adviser Yury Ushakov said following the five-hour meeting on Tuesday. He went on to say that some progress was made.
“The conversation was very useful, constructive, and very informative.” He continued, “We did not discuss specific formulations, specific American proposals, but discussed the very essence of what is embedded in these American documents.”
The meeting came after Trump’s 28-point peace plan to end the war in Ukraine was released last month. While that proposal was denounced by American war hawks and European leaders as too accommodating of Russia, the Kremlin took issue with several aspects of the initial proposal.
However, it appears that Trump’s peace plan was significantly revised by Secretary of State Marco Rubio in consultation with Ukrainian and European officials. Ushakov explained after the summit that Putin informed Witkoff that Moscow assessed that “the destructive actions” from the Europeans are undermining a settlement.
One major obstacle to reaching an end to the war is the future of the Donbas region. Moscow annexed the territory in 2022, and Russian forces control over 80% of the eastern Ukrainian region.
Kiev has refused to cede any territory to Russia, while Moscow says it will not end the war until it controls all of the Donbas. Ushakov noted that Witkoff and Putin discussed the territorial issues.
