Putin concludes a gathering with the US with out progress after threatening Europe with a battle “right now” | International | EUROtoday

Explicit threats to the European Union and virtually 5 hours of negotiations with out making any progress in the direction of peace in Ukraine. “There is still a lot of work,” acknowledged Vladimir Putin’s worldwide coverage advisor, Yuri Ushakov, after concluding this Tuesday night time the assembly in Moscow between the Russian president and the White House particular envoy, Steve Witkoff, wherein they mentioned the brand new plan of the American president, Donald Trump, to finish the battle in Ukraine. Hours earlier, Putin despatched a warning to the remainder of Europe: the chief believes that his military is able to maintain a battle “right now” with the group bloc.

“No agreement has yet been reached and no meeting between the leaders of Russia and the United States is planned,” the Russian diplomat acknowledged. According to Moscow, Witkoff carried with him 5 peace proposals, together with the draft that Washington and kyiv authorities agreed on in Geneva final week and the unique 28-point American plan that glad lots of the Kremlin’s calls for and left Ukraine on the verge of capitulation, though this time with one level much less, 27, based on the Kremlin.

“Russia is willing to consider some of the United States’ ideas on Ukraine, but several proposals have drawn harsh criticism,” Ushakov mentioned after declaring that Moscow “could accept some aspects of the American plan for Ukraine.”

Putin’s adviser has maintained that each side addressed “some territorial issues” on the assembly. Trump’s authentic plan contemplated the handover of Donbas (the provinces of Donetsk and Lugansk), an concept that disappeared within the draft later agreed with kyiv.

Moscow doesn’t appear keen to offer in. Putin has mentioned earlier than receiving Trump’s envoy that he’s ready for a battle with Europe “from now on” and has claimed much more territories from Ukraine. The president of Russia has ordered his excessive command to create a “security zone” alongside all the border with Ukraine.

The assembly began with Putin humiliating Witkoff. The Kremlin had introduced that the assembly would begin at 5:00 p.m. in Moscow (3:00 p.m. in mainland Spain), however after a number of minutes the Russian chief appeared on the discussion board Russia is looking! from BTV financial institution. Finally, he appeared on the assembly with the American envoy at 7:40 p.m., virtually three hours after the scheduled time.

This is the second time that Putin has made Witkoff wait on this method: the earlier one, in March, when the American businessman traveled to Moscow to debate with the Russian chief a 30-day ceasefire that by no means occurred. On that event, Putin improvised a gathering with the Belarusian president, Aleksandr Lukashenko, that very same day. The American envoy then needed to wait eight hours.

Putin has threatened each kyiv and the European Union throughout his speech on the discussion board. These days Ukraine has attacked no less than 4 oil tankers of the ghost fleet with which Moscow evades sanctions, and the Russian president has warned that he’ll take into account each “taking retaliatory measures against the ships of countries that help Ukraine” and slicing off Ukraine’s entry to the Black Sea. This would suggest a Russian advance to Odessa, an goal that it already tried to soak up 2022 and which the Kremlin by no means gave up.

“Russia has no intention of going to war with Europe, but if the European Union wants it, it is prepared right now. Although in that case there will soon be no one left to negotiate with,” Putin added to his bravado. Furthermore, the president has reiterated that he’ll solely agree to barter with the events that acknowledge all the occupied territory as Russian.

“Europe will only be able to return to the negotiating table if it recognizes the reality on the ground,” Putin mentioned after stating that European leaders “are presenting proposals for the Ukrainian peace plan that are unacceptable to Russia.”

Rubio, the good absentee

The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, has been the large absentee from this necessary assembly this Tuesday. Witkoff, a billionaire actual property developer turned White House particular envoy as a consequence of his friendship with Trump, has traveled to Moscow for the sixth time this 12 months accompanied by Jared Kushner, the US president’s son-in-law. Without any expertise as a diplomat – in an interview he has even forgotten the title of the Ukrainian areas for which he negotiates – kyiv accuses Witkoff of shopping for Putin’s Russian narrative.

This businessman has confirmed to be extra tractable to the Kremlin than Trump’s particular envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg. This veteran diplomat, aware of Eastern Europe, was vetoed by Moscow in his negotiations and has introduced his departure in January 2026.

Witkoff, nonetheless, has suggested the Kremlin on tips on how to flatter Trump in negotiations, based on leaked conversations with Putin’s particular envoy Kirill Dmitriev. From these conversations emerged the primary draft of Trump’s peace plan.

During his assembly with Putin, Witkoff extracted a promise from the Kremlin that Russia wouldn’t reveal the content material of their assembly this Tuesday.

The Kremlin desires extra territory

On the eve of his assembly with Witkoff, Putin has staged the supposed conquest of Pokrovsk, a metropolis within the Donetsk area that the Kremlin has been making an attempt to take since February 2024 at the price of numerous casualties. However, Ukraine has denied its fall and claims that it controls the northern a part of the city, from the place it assaults Russian forces within the southern space.

A video launched by the Kremlin this Monday confirmed the Russian chief dressed as a navy man together with the chief of his General Staff, Valeri Gerasimov, in a supposed command middle. During the assembly, the final introduced to his chief “the liberation of Krasnoarmiisk [el nombre soviético de Pokrovsk] and Vovchansk.” Likewise, the Russian Ministry of Defense printed a brief recording wherein two troopers posed working with their flag within the middle of a devastated metropolis.

Putin ordered Gerasimov to create “a security zone along the border with Ukraine” throughout their assembly. This instruction, which isn’t new, would suggest advancing in all Ukrainian provinces that border each the Russian Federation – particularly the areas of Kharkiv, Sumi and Chernigov – and its occupied territories with the excuse of maintaining Ukrainian forces away.

The mere proposal of this “security zone” contradicts the supposed Russian intention of limiting itself to asking for worldwide recognition of its occupation of the Crimean peninsula (illegally annexed since 2014) and the jap provinces of Donetsk and Lugansk. And it raises one other query: how far Putin would advance this “security zone” if he considers every new territory he conquers his personal.

Political scientist Tatiana Stanovaya, founding father of the Rpolitik evaluation middle, warns on her Telegram channel: “Listening to this, it comes to mind how far all negotiators (non-Russian, of course) are from understanding all of the Kremlin’s demands. What is being negotiated now and perceived as maximalist demands is just the tip of the iceberg.”