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- author, Yaroslav Lukiev
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ruled out ceding territory.
Putin’s comments came after US President Donald Trump said that his negotiators on the peace plan said that the Russian leader “wants to end the war” after discussions on Tuesday (2/12) in Moscow.
Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, who was in Moscow, is scheduled to meet with the Ukrainian diplomatic team in Florida.
credit, Russian Ministry of Defense/Anatolia via Getty Images
Trump said that Tuesday’s talks in the Kremlin went “reasonably well,” adding that it was too early to say what would happen because “it takes two to tango.”
The Kremlin said on Friday that Moscow was still waiting for a response from Washington after the meeting in Russia.
Kremlin advisor Yuri Ushakov said: “We are now waiting for the reaction of our American colleagues to the discussion we had on Tuesday.”
He said there were no plans for a phone call between Putin and Trump, and no date had been set for a new meeting with Witkov.
The original version of the US peace plan proposed handing over areas of Donbas still under Ukrainian control to Putin, but Witkoff’s team presented a revised version in Moscow.
In his interview with India Today before a state visit to New Delhi, Putin said he had not seen the new version before his talks with Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.
“That’s why we had to review every point, and that’s why it took so long,” the Kremlin leader said.
He added that Moscow does not agree with parts of the American plan.
“Sometimes we said yes, we can discuss this matter, but we cannot agree on it,” Putin said.
He did not mention the points of contention. There remain at least two important points of disagreement: the fate of Ukrainian territories seized by Russian forces and security guarantees for Ukraine.
Putin’s chief foreign policy advisor and key negotiator Yuri Ushakov said shortly after the talks that they had not reached a “settlement” on ending the war.
Ushakov also hinted that Russia’s negotiating position had been strengthened thanks to what Moscow saw as its recent battlefield successes.
Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russia of obstructing any ceasefire agreements, saying that Moscow seeks to control more Ukrainian territory.
Commenting on the Kremlin talks, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sepia said that Putin was “wasting the world’s time.” Ukraine has long insisted on strict security guarantees for the country in any agreement.
Zelensky said on Wednesday that “the world clearly feels that there is a real opportunity to end the war” – but negotiations must be “backed by pressure on Russia,” which Kiev and its European allies accuse of deliberately delaying any ceasefire agreements.
The Ukrainian president said last week that his top negotiators were able to make some significant changes to the original US peace plan – seen as largely favorable to Moscow – during talks with a US delegation in Geneva on November 23.
In a joint statement, US and Ukrainian negotiators said at the time that they had developed an “updated and revised peace framework” – but did not provide further details.
Senior European negotiators – who had expressed concern about the original US plan – were also in the Swiss city last week, meeting separately with the Ukrainian and American teams.
In a separate development on Thursday, German news website Der Spiegel said it had obtained a confidential transcript of a conference call in which European leaders expressed concern about the US negotiations.
“There is a possibility that the United States will betray Ukraine regarding the regional issue without clarity on security guarantees,” French President Emmanuel Macron was quoted as saying, according to an English transcript of the conference call that took place on Monday.
Meanwhile, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was quoted as warning that Zelensky needs to “be very careful in the coming days.”
“They are playing with us and with you,” Mears was quoted as saying.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb was also quoted as saying: “We cannot leave Ukraine and Volodymyr alone with these men.”
The BBC was unable to access the text that was released.
In response to a query from Der Spiegel magazine, France’s Elysee Palace stated that “the president did not express himself in these terms.” The presidential office refused to provide details about how Macron expressed his opinion, under the pretext of confidentiality.
Stapp declined to comment to Der Spiegel, and Merz had no comment.
“Secretary (Marco) Rubio, Special Envoy Witkoff, Mr. Kushner and the President’s entire national security team are working tirelessly to prevent violence between Russia and Ukraine,” the White House said in a statement to the BBC.
“They held fruitful meetings to gather views from both sides on a plan that can promote lasting and implementable peace,” the statement read.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory.
In recent weeks, Russian forces have been slowly advancing into southeastern Ukraine despite reports of heavy casualties.