On November 2, Russia and the United States held a five-hour ceasefire negotiation at the Kremlin.
Yuri Ushakov, the Kremlin’s foreign policy aide, said after the meeting that it was “useful, constructive,” adding that “some of the ideas the Americans proposed look more or less acceptable, though they still need to be discussed.”
He continued by noting that President Putin did not hide his critical stance toward some of the proposals, and that no compromise had yet been reached on the key issue of territory.
However, he stressed that “certainly not further (from peace)” emphasizing that the talks had not collapsed. The specific details of the negotiations were not disclosed.
Both sides agreed to continue contact at the adviser and working-level tiers and to pursue joint efforts toward peace.
US representatives—Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of President Trump—were reported to be returning directly to the United States after the meeting without making their planned visit to Ukraine, in order to report the results.
This meeting followed two prior rounds of high-level talks between US and Ukrainian delegations.
The two sides met in Geneva, Switzerland, on the 23rd of last month and reached a provisional agreement to streamline the US-proposed “28-point” peace plan into 19 points. They reportedly met again in Florida on the 30th of the same month to discuss the transfer of Donetsk and Luhansk and the issue of security guarantees—matters that were not resolved in the first round of negotiations.
Meanwhile, prior to meeting the U.S. delegation, President Putin stated at an investment forum that “European allies Tuesday of sabotaging U.S.-led efforts to end the nearly 4-year-old war in Ukraine.,” saying, “Russia has no plans to attack Europe, but if Europe suddenly wants to wage a war with us and starts it, we are ready right away..”
He added, “(Europe) amending peace proposals with “demands that are absolutely unacceptable to Russia,” thus “blocking the entire peace process.”
