According to the Kremlin, Putin will meet US envoy Witkoff on Tuesday afternoon | EUROtoday

As of: December 1st, 2025 9:06 p.m

Negotiations are happening – tomorrow in Moscow too. Then President Putin is meant to satisfy US envoy Witkoff. The EU international coverage chief warns: Pressure should be exerted on the aggressor Russia, not on the sufferer Ukraine.

It could possibly be “a crucial week for diplomacy.” This is how EU international coverage chief Kaja Kallas put it earlier than the beginning of a gathering of EU protection ministers on Monday. In reality, a doable resolution to ending the struggle in Ukraine is presently being mentioned in varied locations – with representatives of Ukraine and its European allies, Russia, the USA and NATO.

The assembly, which many are wanting ahead to with specific pleasure, is scheduled to happen on Tuesday in Moscow. According to the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin will then meet US envoy Steve Witkoff. The dialog will happen within the second half of the day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated, based on the Russian state information company Tass.

Witkoff usually adopted Russian narratives

Witkoff is touring to Moscow on behalf of US President Donald Trump. However, it’s thought of controversial. On the one hand, the businessman Witkoff has little expertise as a diplomat – and is dealing with a president who has been the sturdy man in Russian politics for greater than 25 years. On the opposite hand, Witkoff had repeatedly attracted consideration for uncritically adopting Russian narratives.

Last week, the information prompted a stir that Witkoff had given Kremlin chief Putin’s international coverage advisor Yuri Ushakov recommendations on how Putin may ensnare Trump with the intention to make a plan for Ukraine palatable to him. Both Russia and the US have tried to downplay the importance of the revelations.

Rubio: “Realistic but optimistic”

It will subsequently be significantly essential for Ukraine to as soon as once more make its place clear to the USA. There had been already talks between representatives of the USA and Ukraine in Florida on Sunday.

On the US aspect, along with Witkoff, US President Trump’s son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner additionally took half – and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who led the talks close to Miami. Unlike Witkoff, he isn’t suspected of being pleasant to Russia. Rubio stated after the talks that the US authorities was “realistic about how difficult this is, but optimistic.” However, there’s nonetheless extra to do.

Ukrainian delegation head Rustem Umyerov stated on Telegram: “We have made significant progress in promoting a dignified peace and bringing our positions closer to the American side. Our main goals – security, sovereignty and reliable peace – remain unchanged and are shared by the American side.”

Umjerow agreed with Rubio’s evaluation that there’s nonetheless a whole lot of work to be performed. Neither Rubio nor Umjerow defined which points of the matter had made progress in Florida and the place there have been nonetheless issues.

Zelensky: “Peace must really be lasting”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is presently touring to Europe to debate the standing of talks with allies. First he met French head of state Emmanuel Macron in Paris.

The Élysée Palace subsequently introduced {that a} phone swap had been held with European heads of presidency, together with Chancellor Friedrich Merz, to debate the diplomatic efforts initiated by the USA. The US particular envoy Witkoff, the top of the Ukrainian negotiating workforce, Umjerow, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte had been additionally concerned.

“Peace must really be lasting. The war must be ended as quickly as possible. A lot now depends on the commitment of all heads of state and government,” Zelenskyj wrote on X. The Ukrainian president is touring from Paris to Ireland – for his first official go to there.

Kallas: The stress should be exerted on the aggressor

The negotiations come at a tough time for Ukraine. Ukrainian troops are dropping floor on the entrance within the east of the nation. According to calculations by the AFP information company based mostly on figures from the Washington-based Institute for War Studies, Russian troops made larger floor good points in Ukraine in November than in some other month this yr.

In the night, the Kremlin introduced that it had utterly taken over the Ukrainian mining city of Pokrovsk within the Donetsk area, which had been below dispute for a couple of yr. There is not any assertion from Ukraine but.

Ukraine can be dealing with the largest corruption scandal of the struggle. Zelensky’s chief of workers, who additionally led the Ukrainian delegation to the peace talks, resigned on Friday and two ministers had been fired. Referring to the scandal, Trump stated Ukraine had “some difficult little problems.”

The EU international coverage chief Kallas warned in opposition to one-sided negotiations. “I fear that all the pressure will be put on the victims” and “that Ukraine will have to make concessions and commitments,” Kallas stated after the assembly of EU protection ministers. “If we want this war to stop so that it doesn’t continue in a few years, if we want this war not to expand, then we should put all the pressure on the one who is carrying out the aggression, namely Russia.”