Some Proposals in US Plan To End Ukraine War Unacceptable: Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin said some proposals in the US plan to end the war in Ukraine are unacceptable to the Kremlin, adding that any agreement is still far away in comments published on Thursday.
US President Donald Trump has launched the most intense diplomatic push to halt the fighting since Russia began a full-scale invasion of its neighbor nearly four years ago. But these efforts once again ran into difficult-to-reconcile demands, particularly over whether Ukraine should cede territory to Russia and how it could be protected from any future aggression by Moscow.
Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner are expected to meet with the Ukrainian delegation led by Rustem Umerov later Thursday, following the Americans’ talks with Putin at the Kremlin.
The meeting at Shell Bay Club, a golf resort developed by Witkoff in Hallandale Beach, is tentatively set to begin at 5 p.m. EST, according to an official familiar with the logistics. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly because the meeting had not yet been officially announced and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Putin said Tuesday’s five-hour talks with Witkoff and Kushner were “necessary” and “useful” but also “difficult work” and some of the proposals were unacceptable.
Speaking to India Today television channel before leaving for New Delhi on Thursday for an official visit, Putin said the American proposals discussed at the Kremlin meeting were based on previous talks between Russia and the United States, including his meeting with Trump in Alaska in August, but also contained new elements.
“We had to go over almost every point, which is why it took so long,” he said. “It was a meaningful, very specific and important conversation. Sometimes we said, ‘Yes, we can discuss this, but we can’t agree with that.'”
Trump said Wednesday that Witkoff and Kushner left the marathon session confident that Putin wanted to put an end to the war. “Their impression was very strong that he wanted to make a deal,” he added.
Putin said that the US’s initial 28-article peace proposal was reduced to 27 articles and divided into four packages. He declined to elaborate on what Russia might accept or reject, and none of the other officials involved offered details of the talks.
The Russian leader praised Trump’s peace efforts and noted that “reaching consensus between the conflicting parties is not an easy task.”
“It seems premature to say now what does not suit us completely or where we can agree, as this could disrupt the style of operation that President Trump is trying to establish,” Putin said.
He emphasized that Russia will achieve the goals it set and take the entire eastern Donetsk region. “All of this leads to only one conclusion: Either we take back these areas by force, or Ukrainian troops will eventually withdraw,” he said.
European leaders, sidelined by Washington as US officials engage directly with Moscow and Kiev, accused Putin of feigning interest in Trump’s peace push.
French President Emmanuel Macron met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing and wanted to involve him in pressuring Russia for a ceasefire. Xi, whose country provides strong diplomatic support to Putin, said, “China supports all efforts towards peace” instead of responding to France’s call.
Russia’s bombardment of civilian areas of Ukraine continued until Thursday. A missile fell in Kryvyi Rih on Wednesday night, injuring six people, including a 3-year-old girl, according to the head of the city administration, Oleksandr Vilkul.
Vilkul said that more than 40 residences, a school and gas pipes in the house were damaged in the attack on the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
A 6-year-old girl in the southern city of Kherson died after being injured by Russian artillery shelling the day before, regional military administration chief Oleksandr Prokudin wrote on Telegram.
The Kherson Thermal Power Plant, which provides heat to more than 40,000 residents, was shut down on Thursday after Russia hit it with drones and artillery for several days, he said.
Officials said they are planning emergency meetings to find alternative heating sources. By then, tents were being set up throughout the city where residents could warm up and charge their electronic devices.
Oleh Kiper, head of the regional military administration, said that Russia hit Odessa with unmanned aerial vehicles, six people were injured and civilian and energy infrastructure was damaged.
Russia fired two ballistic missiles and 138 drones at Ukraine overnight, officials said.
Meanwhile, Moscow-appointed regional leader Vladimir Saldo said that two people were killed in the Russian-occupied region of the Kherson region on Thursday in an attack by Ukraine on their vehicles with a drone. He said that a 68-year-old woman was also injured in the attack.
