MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin met US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner in the Kremlin on Tuesday for talks on a possible way to end the deadliest European conflict since World War Two.

Just before the meeting, Putin warned Europe that it would face swift defeat if it went to war with Russia, and he dismissed European counter-proposals on Ukraine as being absolutely unacceptable to Russia.

Trump has repeatedly said he wants to end the war, but his efforts so far, including a summit with Putin in Alaska in August and meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, have not yet brought peace. A leaked set of 28 US draft peace proposals emerged last week, alarming Ukrainian and European officials who said it bowed to Moscow’s main demands on Nato, Russian control of a fifth of Ukraine and restrictions on Ukraine’s army.

European powers then came up with a counter-proposal and at talks in Geneva, the United States and Ukraine said they had created an “updated and refined peace framework” to end the war. “I am so plea­sed to see you,” Putin told Witkoff and Kushner when they met on Tuesday.

Kyiv says Putin’s remarks against Europe show he does not want to end the conflict

“It is a magnificent city,” Witkoff told Putin after earlier strolling with Kushner and the Russian leader’s envoy Kirill Dmitriev on Red Square, near the mausoleum of Soviet state founder Vladimir Lenin. Dmitriev and Putin aide Yuri Ushakov were also at the Kremlin meeting, along with interpreters.

Putin accuses Europeans of blocking peace

Just before the Kremlin meeting, Putin accused Europe of seeking to undermine Trump’s peace efforts by making proposals that it knew were unacceptable to Russia.

“They are on the side of war,” Putin said of the European powers. “We can clearly see that all these changes are aimed at only one thing: to block the entire peace process altogether, to make such demands which are absolutely unacceptable to Russia.”

The Russian president said if “Europe suddenly starts a war with us, it would end so suddenly that no one will be left to negotiate with”.

Putin threatened to sever Ukrai­ne’s access to the sea in response to drone attacks on tankers of Russia’s “shadow fleet” in the Black Sea. Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said Putin’s remarks showed he was not ready to end the war.

Russian forces now control almost 20 per cent of Ukraine, or 115,600 square km, up only one percentage point from two years ago, though this year they have advanced at the fastest pace since 2022.

But nearly four years into the Ukraine war, Russia has failed to conquer Ukraine, a much smaller neighbour which has been supported by European powers and the United States.

President Zelensky, speaking in Dublin, Ireland, said everything would depend on the talks in Moscow. “There will be no easy solutions... It is important that everything is fair and open, so that there are no games behind Ukraine’s back,” he said.

Published in Dawn, December 3rd, 2025