Wars 2022 02/24 Monitoring Russian and Ukraine War.

[Saif]

Trump sends Witkoff to Moscow in hopes of finalising Ukraine deal

An initial US plan which was heavily weighted in Russia's favor has been replaced by one taking in more of Ukraine's interests.

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Trump sends Witkoff to Moscow in hopes of finalising Ukraine deal
AFP Washington
Published: 26 Nov 2025, 14: 49

US envoy Steve WitkoffAFP

Donald Trump said Tuesday he is sending his envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Moscow next week as the US president seeks to close out a deal to end the war in Ukraine.

Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that there were "only a few remaining points of disagreement" -- but European leaders were skeptical, and Russian missiles continued to rain down on Ukraine.

He also expressed hope to meet "soon" with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, "but ONLY when the deal to end this War is FINAL or, in its final stages."

Trump later told journalists aboard Air Force One that Witkoff may be joined in Moscow by the president's son-in-law Jared Kushner.


An initial US plan which was heavily weighted in Russia's favor has been replaced by one taking in more of Ukraine's interests, and an official familiar with the new version told AFP it was "significantly better."

However, US officials acknowledged that "delicate" issues remain.

French President Emmanuel Macron threw cold water on the idea of a rapid solution, stating there is "clearly no Russian willingness" for a ceasefire or to discuss the new, more Ukraine-friendly proposal.

Frantic discussions have been underway since the weekend when Ukrainian and US representatives huddled in Geneva to discuss Trump's controversial, initial 28-point plan for settling the bloody conflict.

The latest talks including US and Russian delegates were taking place in Abu Dhabi, US media reported. Leaders of a group of 30 countries supporting Ukraine also met by video on Tuesday.

US negotiator Dan Driscoll emerged upbeat from meeting with Russian counterparts, with his spokesman saying: "The talks are going well and we remain optimistic."

The White House cited "tremendous progress," while cautioning "there are a few delicate but not insurmountable details that must be sorted out."

But the war, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, continued unabated.

On Tuesday night, Russia launched a major attack on Zaporizhzhia that damaged at least seven high-rise buildings and caused 12 people to be hospitalized, the head of the regional military administration said.

The night before, powerful explosions rocked Kyiv beginning around 1:00 am local time, as Russian drones and missiles rained down, setting fires in apartment buildings. City officials said seven people were killed.

Thick smoke, turning red and orange in the blizzard of Ukrainian air defense fire, rose over the capital as residents fled underground into metro stations, according to AFP reporters.

Tough road ahead
Trump, who long boasted he could negotiate an end to the Ukraine war within 24 hours, announced last week that he wanted his proposal approved by Kyiv by this Thursday -- the US Thanksgiving holiday.

But the initial plan, pushing numerous Russian war aims, sparked alarm in Ukraine and Europe. Among its points were prohibitions on Ukraine ever joining NATO and the surrender of swaths of new territory to Russia.

The updated plan clearly pleases Kyiv more. The official familiar with the text told AFP that one key improvement was raising a proposed cap on the country's future military forces from 600,000 to 800,000 members.

Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov said Tuesday there was "common understanding on the core" of the deal between Ukraine and the United States.

However, remaining details should be hammered out in direct talks "at the earliest suitable date," he said.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned: "There's still a long way to go and a tough road ahead."​

 

[Saif]

Putin says US-Ukraine text could form basis for future peace deal

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that outline draft peace proposals discussed by the United States and Ukraine could become the basis of future agreements to end the conflict in Ukraine, but that if not Russia would fight on. US President Donald Trump has long said he wants to end

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Putin says US-Ukraine text could form basis for future peace deal

REUTERS
Published :
Nov 27, 2025 22:48
Updated :
Nov 27, 2025 22:48

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a press conference following the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Nov 27, 2025. Photo : Sputnik/Alexander Kazakov/Pool via REUTERS

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that outline draft peace proposals discussed by the United States and Ukraine could become the basis of future agreements to end the conflict in Ukraine, but that if not Russia would fight on.

US President Donald Trump has long said he wants to end the war in Ukraine, Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two, but his efforts so far, including a summit with President Vladimir Putin in Alaska in August, have not brought peace.

A leaked 28-point US peace plan emerged last week, spooking Ukrainian and European officials who felt it bowed to Moscow's key demands on NATO, Moscow's control of a fifth of Ukraine and restrictions on Ukraine's army.

European powers then gave their counter-proposal for peace and at talks in Geneva, the US and Ukraine said they had created an "updated and refined peace framework" to end the war.

Putin, speaking in Bishkek after a summit with the leaders of a grouping of former Soviet republics, told reporters that the discussions so far were not about a draft agreement of any kind but about sets of issues.

He said that in Geneva, the US and Ukraine had decided to divide up the 28 points into four separate components - and that a copy had been transmitted to Moscow.

"In general, we agree that this could be the basis for future agreements," Putin said. "We see that the American side takes into account our position."

Putin said that some things still needed to be discussed. If Europe wanted a pledge not to attack it, then Russia was willing to give such a formal pledge, he said, though he added that it was "complete nonsense" to suggest Russia would attack Europe.

THE CHOICE IS WAR OR PEACE, PUTIN SAYS

Putin mixed a clear public expression of readiness to engage with the Trump administration over a possible peace plan for Ukraine with several warnings that Russia was prepared to fight on if necessary and take more of Ukraine.

Russian forces control more than 19 percent of Ukraine, or 115,600 square km, up one percentage point from two years ago, and have advanced in 2025 at the fastest pace since 2022, according to pro-Ukrainian maps.

Russia, Putin noted, was being told that it should cease the fighting but needed Kyiv's forces to pull back before it could do so.

"Ukrainian troops must withdraw from the territories they hold, and then the fighting will cease. If they don't leave, then we shall achieve this by armed means. That's it," Putin said.

Putin said that he considered the Ukrainian leadership to be illegitimate and so it was legally impossible to sign a deal with Kyiv.

It was therefore important, he said, to ensure that any agreement was recognised by the international community - and that the international community recognised Russian gains in Ukraine.

"Therefore, broadly speaking, of course, we ultimately want to reach an agreement with Ukraine. But right now, this is practically impossible. Impossible legally," Putin said.

He said that the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, and the eastern Donbas region should be a topic for discussions with the US.

Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff plans to visit Moscow early next week, Putin said. US sanctions on Russian oil companies were unexpected, he added.

Commenting on the leak of a recording of a call between top advisers to Trump and Putin, the Kremlin chief rejected the suggestion that Witkoff had shown himself to be biased towards Moscow in peace talks over Ukraine, describing it as nonsense.

"It would be astonishing if he ... rained curses down upon our heads, was very rude and then arrived to develop ties with us," Putin said of Witkoff, casting him as a patriot defending US interests.​

 

[Saif]

Russia, Ukraine prepare for more talks with US

Russia and Ukraine said Wednesday they were ready for more talks with the United States to end almost four years of war, after US envoy Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner left the Kremlin with no breakthrough on a peace deal...

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Russia, Ukraine prepare for more talks with US
Agence France-Presse . Moscow, Russia 04 December, 2025, 00:20

Russia and Ukraine said Wednesday they were ready for more talks with the United States to end almost four years of war, after US envoy Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner left the Kremlin with no breakthrough on a peace deal.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s talks with the US officials ended in the early hours of Wednesday, with neither side announcing concrete progress.

The Kremlin said that no ‘compromise’ had been found on the crucial question of territories.

The morning after the meeting, the Kremlin said it had told the Americans what was ‘unacceptable’ to them.

Witkoff and Kushner brought an updated version of a US plan to end Europe’s bloodiest war in 80 years, after the US held talks with Kyiv.

The Kremlin insisted it was incorrect to say Putin had rejected the plan in its entirety, and that Russia was still committed to diplomacy — despite the Russian leader issuing a stark warning that Moscow was ‘ready’ to fight Europe if it wanted war.

‘We are still ready to meet as many times as is needed to reach a peace settlement,’ said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky says any deal should offer lasting peace and ensure Moscow does not attack again.

As the Americans returned from Moscow, Zelensky announced that his top negotiator Rustem Umerov and army ground chief Andriy Gnatov were headed for Brussels, where NATO foreign ministers were gathering.

They will also travel to the US to meet with Trump’s envoys, Zelensky said on social media.

Washington’s Steve Witkoff has held a string of Kremlin meetings but has so far not met Ukrainian officials.

NATO foreign ministers are due to discuss Washington’s push to end the fighting in Brussels.

‘Ukrainian representatives will brief their colleagues in Europe on what is known following yesterday’s contacts by the American side in Moscow,’ Zelensky said on social media.

The fresh talks come as NATO pledges to buy hundreds of millions of dollars worth of US arms for Kyiv.

‘The peace talks are on-going, that’s good, but at the same time, we have to make sure that whilst they take place — and we are not sure when they will end — that Ukraine is in the strongest possible position to keep the fight going,’ NATO chief Mark Rutte said.

European countries have expressed fears Washington and Moscow will reach agreements without them, and have spent the last weeks trying to amend the US plan so that it does not force Kyiv to capitulate.

In Moscow, tensions with Europe were palpable.

Putin delivered an exceptionally hawkish statement on Tuesday ahead of meeting the Americans.

‘We are not planning to go to war with Europe, but if Europe wants to and starts, we are ready right now,’ he said.

His spokesman on Wednesday accused Europe of being ‘obsessed with inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia’.

Moscow has felt emboldened in recent months by the growing pace of its army’s advance in Ukraine.

Earlier this week, Russia claimed control of east Ukrainian hub of Pokrovsk.

Ukraine on Tuesday said that fighting for the town — which had 60,000 people before Moscow launched its 2022 offensive — was on-going.

Moscow on Wednesday claimed another village in the Zaporizhzhia region, where it has also made considerable advances in recent weeks.

Russia occupies large swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine.

Putin has insisted that Kyiv surrender the four Ukrainian regions that Moscow has claimed as its own for any peace deal to be possible.​

 

[Saif]

How Europe wants to unlock Russia's frozen cash for Ukraine

The European Union is trying to lend Ukraine tens of billions of dollars, as support from Washington wanes, Russia ekes out gains on the battlefield and Kyiv edges closer to a funding crunch early next year. The 27-member bloc is discussing borrowing against Russian assets held in Europe frozen by

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How Europe wants to unlock Russia's frozen cash for Ukraine

REUTERS
Published :
Dec 04, 2025 23:21
Updated :
Dec 04, 2025 23:21

European Union flags fly outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium Sept 19, 2019. REUTERS/Yves Herman

The European Union is trying to lend Ukraine tens of billions of dollars, as support from Washington wanes, Russia ekes out gains on the battlefield and Kyiv edges closer to a funding crunch early next year.

The 27-member bloc is discussing borrowing against Russian assets held in Europe frozen by sanctions after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

However, the plan to tap roughly 210 billion euros ($245 billion) of Russian assets in Europe, the lion's share of which is now cash, remains contested.

Fears of retaliation by Russia in Belgium, where most of the money is stored, have bogged down discussions, prompting EU officials to devise creative ways of unlocking the money without formally seizing it.

EU leaders are due to meet this month to decide but continued objections in Belgium, which fears being left on the hook if sued by Russia, are confounding efforts.

If attempts to use Russian assets fail, there is an alternative: borrowing, using headroom in the European Union's shared budget.

This would, however, push Europe, already heavily indebted, further into the red. Unanimous EU agreement is needed and Hungarian Premier Viktor Orban has dismissed the idea, urging Brussels to stop funding a war that cannot be won.

WHAT ARE RUSSIA'S FROZEN ASSETS?

The European Union froze hundreds of billions of Russian assets - cash, as well as shares and bonds - following the invasion of Ukraine.

The move, its single biggest penalty on Russia, is now one of Europe's few sources of leverage as it seeks to join the peace talks between Washington, Moscow and Kyiv.

Euroclear, a securities depository equivalent to a financial vault, holds the lion's share of sanctioned Russian wealth in Europe - more than 180 billion euros ($210 billion).

HAS EUROPE TAPPED RUSSIA'S CASH YET?

The West has until now engineered loans and payments to Ukraine, using the interest paid on the frozen Russian cash, which Russian President Vladimir Putin denounced as theft.

Going further than this, however, carries risks.

Belgium has stepped up its opposition to the plan, demanding EU partners share responsibility if the move is challenged.

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, has warned that taking the frozen assets may be considered by Moscow as tantamount to an act justifying war.

There could be fallout for Western investors, who still own tens of billions of assets stranded in Russia, from factories to cash.

WHAT IS THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION'S PLAN?

Ukraine's funding needs in 2026 and 2027 are roughly 135 billion euros - about 52 billion for running the country and 83 billion for defence. The European Union is seeking to have this money in place by the second quarter of 2026.

It has proposed a "reparations" loan, paid for by the frozen Russian cash. The deal would require Euroclear to invest the cash in a debt contract issued by the EU.

It works like this: the European Union borrows cash from Euroclear, lending it on to Ukraine. Ukraine would repay the money but only after it has been paid compensation by Russia for the damage caused by the invasion.

Other financial companies with similar frozen Russian property, including in France and Germany, would also be drawn into the scheme.

About 90 billion euros would be given over two years.

WILL IT WORK?

There are obstacles.

The Commission insists it can press ahead if 15 out of 27 member countries, representing at least 65 percent of the bloc's population, vote in favour.

The EU is also seeking to ensure that Russia's sanctioned assets stay frozen by using an emergency law to override individual countries' ability to vote to derail the scheme.

It is offering European Union guarantees to shield Belgium from being sued. But the country has not dropped its opposition, making it politically difficult to seal a final deal.

The stakes for Belgium are high. Germany has suggested that recent drone sightings over airports and military bases in Belgium were a message not to touch the frozen assets. Moscow has denied any such connection but has promised a "painful response" if assets are seized.​

 

[Saif]

European allies back Zelensky

Ukraine’s European allies put on a show of support for president Volodymyr Zelensky Monday as they expressed scepticism about parts of the US proposal to end the war with Russia...

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European allies back Zelensky
Agence France-Presse . London, United Kingdom 08 December, 2025, 22:54

(From left to right) Britain’s prime minister Keir Starmer, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky and French president Emmanuel Macron take part in a meeting at Number 10 Downing Street in central London on December 8, 2025. | AFP photo

Ukraine’s European allies put on a show of support for president Volodymyr Zelensky Monday as they expressed scepticism about parts of the US proposal to end the war with Russia.

British prime minister Keir Starmer hosted Zelensky, German chancellor Friedrich Merz and French president Emmanuel Macron at his Downing Street residence in London.

The discussions came after president Donald Trump accused Zelensky of not reading his administration’s proposal on a deal to end Russia’s invasion following almost four years of war.

That came after days of talks between Ukrainian and US officials in Miami ended on Saturday with no apparent breakthrough, with Zelensky committing to further negotiations.

‘I’m sceptical about some of the details which we are seeing in the documents coming from the US side, but we have to talk about it. That’s why we are here,’ Merz said at the top of Monday’s meeting, without specifying which version of the proposal he was referring to.

Macron said the ‘main issue’ is finding a ‘convergence’ between the European and Ukrainian position and that of the United States.

Starmer hugged Zelensky as he welcomed the Ukrainian leader to Downing Street shortly after 1:00 pm, with the talks lasting a little over an hour.

The UK premier had earlier said he would not be pushing Zelensky to accept the deal spearheaded by Trump’s administration, the initial version of which was criticised by Ukraine’s allies as overly favourable to Russia.

‘I won’t be putting pressure on the president,’ Starmer told ITV News.

‘The most important thing is to ensure that if there is a cessation of hostilities, and I hope there is, it has to be just and it has to be lasting, which is what we will be focused on this afternoon,’ the UK prime minister added.

But Zelensky said as he headed into the meeting that ‘there are some things which we can’t manage without Americans, things which we can’t manage without Europe, and that’s why we need to make some important decisions.’

An official familiar with the negotiations told AFP on Monday that territory was still ‘the most problematic issue’ in the negotiations.

The tricky subject of how Europe can potentially best use frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine was also to be discussed.

A UK official told reporters that Starmer would ‘update President Zelensky on our wider support today, including through the use of the value of immobilized Russian sovereign assets, which we hope to see movement on soon’.

A European Union plan to use frozen Russian assets to fund Kyiv’s fight against Russia would have ‘far-reaching consequences’ for the EU, Moscow’s ambassador to Germany warned last week.

Earlier, Zelensky said he had joined his negotiators for a ‘very substantive and constructive’ call with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner during the Miami negotiations.

‘Ukraine is committed to continuing to work honestly with the American side to bring about real peace,’ Zelensky said on Telegram, adding that the parties agreed ‘on the next steps and the format of the talks with America’.

But Trump criticised his Ukrainian counterpart on Sunday, telling reporters: ‘I have to say that I’m a little bit disappointed that President Zelensky hasn’t yet read the proposal that was as of a few hours ago.’

Witkoff and Kushner had met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin last week, with Moscow rejecting parts of the US proposal.

Before Monday’s talks, Macron slammed what he called Russia’s ‘escalatory path’.

‘We will continue these efforts with the Americans to provide Ukraine with security guarantees, without which no robust and lasting peace will be possible,’ he wrote on X.

‘We must continue to exert pressure on Russia to compel it to choose peace.’

Washington’s initial plan to bring an end to the conflict involved Ukraine surrendering land that Russia has not been able to win on the battlefield in return for security promises that fall short of Kyiv’s aspirations to join NATO.

But the nature of the security guarantees that Ukraine could get to fend off any future Russian invasion has so far been shrouded in uncertainty, beyond an initial plan saying that jets to defend Kyiv could be based in Poland.

Trump has blown hot and cold on Ukraine since returning to office in January, initially chastising Zelensky for not being grateful for US support.

But he has also grown frustrated that his efforts to persuade Putin to end the war, including a summit in Alaska, have failed to produce results, and he recently slapped sanctions on Russian oil firms.​