Russia ready for war with Europe, Putin says, before Ukraine peace talks
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks to reporters at a press conference at the VTB Investment Forum ‘Russia is Calling!’ in Moscow, Russia, on December 2, 2025. Putin visited the annual forum hosted by VTB Group before meeting with US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Participant | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Peace talks between the US and Russia on Tuesday failed to make any progress, with Russian President Vladimir Putin doubling down on threats to Europe, saying Russia was “ready” for war with the continent.
US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner had gone to Moscow to meet with Putin and his closest aides on a draft peace plan aimed at ending the almost four-year war in Ukraine.
Russian Vice President Yuri Ushakov told reporters after the talks that the talks lasted five hours and that the meeting focused on the peace plan prepared by the USA and that it was “very useful, constructive and extremely informative”, but there was more work to be done.
“We agreed on some issues… some caused criticism and the President [Putin] We also did not hide our critical, even negative attitude towards some proposals. But the main thing is that we had a very useful discussion,” Ushakov said in comments translated by NBC News.
It is not clear which peace plan was presented to the Russians after the first 28-article peace plan, prepared secretly by the USA and Russia, was presented to Ukraine a few weeks ago.
Kyiv and its European allies hastily modified this plan, reducing it to 19 proposals; Ukrainian officials traveled to Florida last weekend to further discuss the proposals.
Russian President Vladimir Putin with US special envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner during a meeting at the Kremlin aimed at finding a solution to end the Ukraine war in Moscow, Russia, on December 2, 2025.
Kremlin Press Office/Anadolu via Getty Images
Russia and Ukraine are miles apart on key elements of the framework peace agreement; Moscow demands that Kiev cede partially occupied territory in the country’s east to Russia and has been unable to agree on Western-backed security guarantees for Ukraine.
Putin’s aide Ushakov said on Tuesday that both sides had discussed a 27-point plan and received more documents from the United States, but he did not elaborate on what they contained. He added that Russia and the United States agreed not to disclose details of the talks.
‘Ready’ for war
The talks in Moscow came after Putin launched a tirade against Europe, saying counter-peace proposals were “absolutely unacceptable” for Russia and that the regional leadership “has no peace agenda”.
Before his meeting with Witkoff and Kushner, Putin told reporters, “We are not going to war with Europe; I have said this hundreds of times. But if Europe suddenly wants to go to war with us and starts, we are ready right now.”
European officials have expressed dismay in recent weeks that they and Ukraine were excluded from initial talks between the United States and Russia that led to an original draft peace plan that was widely seen as favoring Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks while visiting the command center of Russian forces forming the “Western” group during the Russia-Ukraine conflict, located at an undisclosed location, in this still image from video released on November 20, 2025.
Kremlin.ru | via Reuters
“This week could be very important for diplomacy. It is clear that Russia does not want peace and that is why we need to make Ukraine as strong as possible,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday. he said.
Europe will closely monitor the talks held in Russia on Tuesday. Trump has concerns about this Trump, who sometimes seems to have a warmer relationship with Putin than Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, may transfer his support to Russia’s peace proposals in order to end the war as soon as possible.
Keen to sound optimistic about the prospects for peace, Zelenskyy told Irish MPs on Tuesday that Ukraine was “closer to peace than ever” and had a “real, real chance” of a deal being reached following talks with Washington.
There is no rush for a deal
Geopolitical experts say the Kremlin is willing to prolong the peace process for as long as possible, while Russia has an advantage on the battlefield and can extract heavy concessions from Ukraine during the peace process.
Council on Foreign Relations President Michael Froman said it was “in Putin’s interest to keep the process going, to have a long period of diplomatic engagement.”
“He wants to have a broader conversation about Russia’s reintegration with the West and relations with the United States, trade deals with the United States, and make it longer and more drawn-out as he continues to bomb Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and makes incremental advances on the ground,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Tuesday.
Amos Hochstein, managing partner at TWG Global and former senior adviser to the president in the Biden administration, acknowledged that Russia would likely abide by a deal.
“I think it’s hard to get to a point of agreement where a lot of territory has to be given up by the Ukrainians in exchange for some lax and flimsy security guarantees, and that’s hard for the Ukrainians to accept, who have been fighting so much over the last few years,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
“I think the problem is that the Ukrainians can probably agree to some of this, but any concessions they get from the United States on this deal will be difficult to get the Russians to accept.” [ as they] “We are committed to war, we want to win, but we also have a war economy.”
“The Russians are in no rush for a deal here,” he added.
