EditHigh-stakes Moscow talks: Witkoff and Kushner face Putin amid Ukraine dark hour
The bloodbath’s end hangs on whispers between moguls and autocrats - stakes as vast as the steppes they seek to divide
As snow dusts the Kremlin’s onion domes, a pivotal diplomatic gambit unfolds today: U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner will sit down with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the afternoon to chart a path out of Europe’s bloodiest war since 1945.
More than three and a half years into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the meeting – slated for the second half of Tuesday – carries the weight of shattered illusions, battlefield gains, and a continent’s fragile security architecture. Trump, who campaigned on ending the conflict in “24 hours,” now pins hopes on this duo to deliver what an August Alaska summit could not: a ceasefire that doesn’t unravel NATO or betray Kyiv.
The stakes couldn’t be higher. Trump’s administration frames the war as a “bloodbath” and U.S.-fuelled “proxy war,” with over 1.2 million men killed or wounded, per Washington estimates. Yet leaked U.S. draft peace proposals – 28 points unveiled last week – have ignited fury in Kyiv and Brussels. They echo Moscow’s maximalist demands: Ukraine’s eternal NATO ban, army size caps, recognition of Russian control over Crimea, Donbas, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson (now 19% of Ukraine, or 115,600 square kilometres), plus safeguards for Russian speakers and Orthodox believers.
Ukrainian officials decry it as “capitulation,” leaving their nation vulnerable to future aggression. Europeans fear a pro-Russian sellout that could lure U.S. investors into Russia’s oil, gas, and rare earth sectors, potentially reinstating Moscow in the G8 club.
Putin tempers expectations
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed “megaphone diplomacy” on red lines, insisting talks are mere “proposals” for “future agreements” – not a binding draft. But Moscow’s actions speak louder: On Monday, military chiefs briefed Putin at a forward command post that Russian forces had seized the Donetsk logistics hub of Pokrovsk (Russian: Krasnoarmeysk) and border town Vovchansk in Kharkiv. Videos from the Russian Defence Ministry show troops planting flags amid rubble-strewn streets, with commanders vowing to press for all of Donbas and a “security zone” along the border.
Valery Gerasimov, General Staff chief, hailed advances in Zaporizhzhia – entering Huliaipole for street fights – and Lyman north of Pokrovsk.
Ukrainian reports acknowledge 43 assaults around Pokrovsk but deny losses, claiming counter-gains. Still, 2025’s Russian pace rivals 2022’s blitz, upping pressure on negotiators: Refuse a deal, Putin warns, and “forces will advance further.”
For Ukraine, the timing is dire. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, fresh from Paris talks with Emmanuel Macron and a video call with leaders from Britain, Germany, Italy, Poland, and the EU, reiterated Kyiv’s red lines: sovereignty, robust security guarantees (the U.S. floated a 10-year pact), and no rewards for Russia’s aggression.
“Territorial disputes are the most complicated,” Zelenskyy said, urging allies to avoid a “punitive” peace. Yet Kyiv reels from eastern retreats and its gravest corruption scandal yet. Chief of staff Andriy Yermak resigned Friday after raids on his home; two ministers were sacked, and a Zelenskyy business associate named a suspect.
Trump, aboard Air Force One Sunday, griped about Ukraine’s “difficult little problems” but professed optimism: “Both sides want to end it—good chance for a deal.”
European solidarity, galvanized by the leaks, offers a counterweight. Macron, hosting Zelenskyy at the Élysée, affirmed: “Only Ukraine decides its territories.” In a follow-up call with Trump, he stressed “crucial” security guarantees for a “robust and lasting peace.”
The EU’s reparations scheme— a €140 billion ($163 billion) loan backed by frozen Russian assets at Euroclear—stumbled Tuesday when the European Central Bank refused to provide a backstop, citing mandate violations. This blow, reported by the Financial Times, underscores Brussels’ funding woes, potentially leaving Ukraine starved of reconstruction cash.
Witkoff and Kushner arrive battle-tested
The real estate scions—Witkoff, Trump’s golf buddy and Shell Bay resort host; Kushner, Middle East dealmaker—huddled Sunday in Miami with Ukraine’s Rustem Umerov and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. They forged an “updated and refined” framework, tweaking the original to assuage Kyiv.
Details remain secret, but Zelenskyy posted on X: “We share the view that the war must end fairly.” Still, “tough issues” linger, per Zelenskyy, as Trump’s frustration mounts over elusive breakthroughs.
The broader chessboard tilts on this meeting. For Trump, success burnishes his peacemaker brand, unlocking U.S.-Russia business ties and easing NATO burdens. Failure risks alienating Europe, emboldening Putin, and dooming Ukraine to partitioned limbo. Putin gambles on U.S. isolationism, using territorial grabs to extract concessions while eyeing economic reintegration. Europe and NATO face existential tests: Yielding to Moscow could erode deterrence from the Baltics to the Black Sea. For Zelenskyy, it’s survival—balancing graft probes at home with pleas for ironclad protections abroad.
As Witkoff and Kushner cross the threshold today, the Kremlin’s halls echo with history’s ghosts: Yalta’s partitions, Helsinki’s accords. A deal here could redraw Europe’s map, thaw frozen assets into peace dividends, and silence the artillery. Or it could ignite recriminations, fuelling Putin’s Donbas drive and Ukraine’s defiance. In this high-wire act, the bloodbath’s end hangs on whispers between moguls and autocrats—stakes as vast as the steppes they seek to divide.
Based on Reuters dispatches from 1-2 December, edited by g.g.
Caption: Russian President Vladimir Putin takes his seat for a meeting with participants of the Young Scientists Forum at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 28 November 2025. EPA/ALEXANDER NEMENOV / AFP / POOL
Updated: December 2, 2025 - 07:55
