Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the meeting Monday. Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, described as an outside adviser in the diplomatic talks, is also expected to attend. The start of the session is to be televised.
The Moscow meeting follows nearly five hours of negotiations Sunday in Florida aimed at refining a U.S.-backed peace plan to end the war. Participants included Marco Rubio, Witkoff and Jared Kushner for the U.S. side, and Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council secretary, Rustem Umerov, among others.
Both delegations called the discussions “constructive,” though CNN, citing a source, said “the most sensitive issues” were raised, and AFP reported, citing a source close to the Ukrainian team, that the talks “were not easy.”
Global media highlighted two core sticking points before Tuesday’s meeting: the fate of territories occupied by Russia and security guarantees for Ukraine.
“As for details, I’ll let the negotiators negotiate. But we feel pretty good and hope this war finally ends,” White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said Monday.
BBC reported Tuesday that Putin is not backing off conditions he says are required to end the war, insisting Ukraine withdraw from territories claimed by Moscow and seeking legal recognition of areas seized by force, including Crimea and parts of the Donbas.
Speaking to reporters during a trip to Kyrgyzstan, Putin accused Kyiv of wanting to fight “to the last Ukrainian” and said Russia “has the initiative and advantage” on the battlefield.
“If they do not withdraw, we will achieve this by military force,” he said, according to BBC.
The U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War has assessed that Russia would still need nearly two years to take the rest of Donetsk region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has ruled out ceding the parts of Donbas still under Kyiv’s control and said rewarding Russia for aggression is unacceptable.
After meeting French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday, Zelensky wrote that the war “must be ended justly” and that progress on security guarantees is essential, adding that Russia “despises” efforts to truly end the war.
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Source: BBC, IAR, PAP, RMF24