Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet US special envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow on Tuesday, after the White House said it was “very optimistic” about reaching a deal to end the Ukraine war.US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who has acted as an outside adviser in diplomatic talks, is also expected to attend.The summit comes after two days of negotiations in Florida between Ukrainian and US officials, including Witkoff and Kushner, aimed at refining a US-backed peace plan which had been viewed as favourable to Russia.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the talks as “constructive”, but said there were “some tough issues that still have to be worked through”.
Theinitial US-Russia draft peace plancirculated in November sparked consternation in Kyiv and around Europe.As well as being heavily slanted towards Moscow’s demands, it also dictated how several billion infrozen Russian assetscurrently held in European financial institutions should be invested, as well as setting the terms for Ukrainian market access in Europe.Speaking on Monday, Macron said there was currently “no finalised peace plan to speak of”, and insisted that any such proposal could only be worked out with input from Ukraine and Europe.Macron said the question of territorial concessions could “only be finalised by President Zelensky”, and pointed out that questions around frozen Russian assets, security guarantees, and Ukraine’s accession to the EU needed to involve European nations. In recent months Moscow has at times appeared to engage with US attempts to mediate an agreement to end the war, but several of its demands directly counter Ukraine’s sovereignty and are seen as unacceptable by Kyiv.While the question of territory is the major sticking point, the issue of security guarantees for Kyiv has also proved contentious.Kyiv and its European partners are keen for Ukraine to be given security guarantees – such as Nato membership – that would protect it from being attacked again.But Russia vehemently opposes this and Trump has also ruled out allowing Ukraine to join the military alliance.
