Moscow Talks End Without Progress on Ukraine Peace Deal
03rd Dec. 2025
Five hours of high-level talks between President Vladimir Putin and senior US negotiators ended without any progress on Ukraine peace deal, a Kremlin aide said Early Wednesday. Although both sides said the talks were serious and covered a lot of ground. But, they didn’t find a way to get over the main concerns that are still keeping the war going after almost four years.
President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law Jared Kushner met Putin in the Kremlin on Tuesday, which ended an intensive week of diplomacy. The Trump administration has been trying to reach an agreement that could end the war. However, the hope was dashed when the meeting didn’t met the expectations of both parties. Nevertheless, Russian foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said the meeting was “very useful, constructive, and highly substantive,” even though “a compromise option was not found.”
Key Issues were the Centre of Talks between Russia and the US
Despite some American proposals appearing “more or less acceptable,” Ushakov stressed that other points “do not suit us,” and therefore “the work will continue”. However, the Kremlin’s long-standing demands are still big problems. Russia continues to insist that Ukraine needs to give up its plans to join NATO and surrender more land in the Donbas region, which Russia says it has taken over but still doesn’t fully control.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials have consistently rejected their maximalist conditions. President Volodymyr Zelensky said he expected to hear directly from the US delegations after they met with Putin and was “waiting for signals” on the end result of the meeting.
Tensions rose hours before the talks as Putin issued a warning that Russia is “ready” to respond if Europe initiates conflict. Although he maintained that Russia is not seeking war. He also accused European leaders of weakening the US peace deal by presenting demands that Russia considers unacceptable. Putin suggested that Kyiv’s European partners were “on the side of the war” and even interfering with Trump’s 28-point peace plan.
Although a revised draft, negotiated during a separate US-Ukraine meeting in Geneva, appeared more favorable to Kyiv. For that, Moscow reiterated that any final deal must resolve the “initial causes” of the invasion. These include halting NATO expansion and recognising Russian control over occupied Ukrainian regions.
Despite a “very productive” round of US-Ukraine talks in Miami over the weekend, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that significant work still remains. Footage of Witkoff and Kushner walking through Red Square earlier Tuesday highlighted the prominence of the visit. Yet, it failed to alter the entrenched positions that persist in characterizing the conflict.
Web Resources on failed Ukraine Peace Deal
1. Reuters.com: Russia says no Ukraine compromise reached after five-hour Putin talks with Trump envoys
2. BBC.com: Russia-US talks on Ukraine peace plan ‘constructive’ but ‘no compromise’ reached on territory
3. TheGuardian.com: Russia ‘ready’ for war with Europe, Putin says, as US peace talks end without progress
4. AcademicBlock.com: Russia Attacks Ukraine Again.