The White House is “optimistic” about a deal, but Ukraine still fears the plan will be based on Russian demands.
US President Donald Trump’s envoys will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss Washington’s proposed peace plan to end the war in Ukraine.
Ahead of Tuesday’s meeting in Moscow, the White House said it was “very optimistic” about reaching a deal. However, Ukraine remains cautious because, despite meetings with US officials on Sunday and Monday, the proposal still reflects Russian demands that are difficult to accept.
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Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, along with the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, is traveling to the Russian capital as part of the renewed US diplomatic push to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, which was triggered in February 2022 when Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbor.
Trump, who had promised to resolve the conflict quickly during his election campaign, has expressed frustration that achieving that outcome has proven more difficult than planned.
A draft 28-point proposal was leaked last week. It quickly earned condemnation as a Russian “wish list” as it called on Ukraine to give up huge territory, limit its military and abandon its efforts to join NATO.
The plan has since been modified, first with input from kyiv along with its European allies and then on Sunday and Monday in meetings between Ukrainian and American officials.
Full details of the proposal as it stands have not been revealed.
However, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday night that preserving Ukraine’s “territorial integrity” remains the “biggest challenge” in the ongoing negotiations.
Putin has repeatedly said he is willing to talk peace and that Moscow generally agrees with the latest American proposals as a “basis for future agreements.”
However, he has also threatened that if Ukraine rejects a deal, Russian forces will continue to advance.
Russian troops have made some progress in recent months on the front line in eastern Ukraine, which has seen little movement during years of attritional conflict.
“Ukrainian troops must withdraw from the territories they control and then the fighting will stop. If they don’t leave, we will achieve it by armed means. That’s all,” Putin said last week.
Speaking about Witkoff and Kushner’s upcoming visit, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to specify Russia’s red lines, saying megaphone diplomacy was not constructive.
However, Moscow has long reiterated that it will not accept any ceasefire that does not meet its maximalist demands, which kyiv and its allies warn would put Ukraine at its mercy.
‘It looks better’
Following talks in Paris with European and American officials on Monday, Zelenskyy said the latest peace plan “seems better” but that points related to Ukrainian control over its territories are “the most complicated.”
French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking alongside Zelenskyy at a joint news conference in Paris, said the flurry of diplomatic activity could be “a moment that could be a turning point,” but reiterated that “Ukraine must be the one to decide its own territorial boundaries.”
Russian forces control more than 19 percent of Ukraine, up one percentage point from two years ago. This year, however, they have advanced at the fastest pace since 2022, according to pro-Ukrainian maps.
Putin’s military commanders told him on Monday that Russian forces had captured the strategic frontline town of Pokrovsk.
However, Ukraine refuted that claim on Tuesday, saying its forces still controlled the northern part of the key logistics center and were mounting attacks on Russian positions in the south.
U.S. officials say more than 1.2 million men have been killed or wounded in the war. Neither Ukraine nor Russia reveal their losses.
