Putin says there are points he can't agree to in the US proposal to end
Russia's war in Ukraine
[December 05, 2025]
By DASHA LITVINOVA
Russian President Vladimir Putin says some proposals in a U.S. plan to
end the war in Ukraine are unacceptable to the Kremlin, indicating in
comments published Thursday that any deal is still some ways off.
U.S. President Donald Trump has set in motion the most intense
diplomatic push to stop the fighting since Russia launched the
full-scale invasion of its neighbor nearly four years ago. But the
effort has once again run into demands that are hard to reconcile,
especially over whether Ukraine must give up land to Russia and how it
can be kept safe from any future aggression by Moscow.
Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and son-in-law Jared Kushner
planned to meet later Thursday with the Ukrainian delegation led by
Rustem Umerov following the Americans' discussions with Putin at the
Kremlin, but there was no immediate confirmation whether that meeting
took place.
The meeting at the Shell Bay Club, a golf property developed by Witkoff
in Hallandale Beach, was tentatively set to begin at 5 p.m. EST,
according to an official familiar with the logistics. The official was
not authorized to discuss the matter publicly because the meeting has
not yet been formally announced and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Putin said his five-hour talks Tuesday with Witkoff and Kushner were
“necessary” and “useful,” but also “difficult work,” and some proposals
were unacceptable.
Speaking to the India Today television channel before he landed Thursday
in New Delhi for a state visit, Putin said the American proposals
discussed at the Kremlin meeting were based on earlier discussions
between Russia and the U.S., including his meeting with Trump in Alaska
in August, but also included new elements.
“We had to go through practically every point, which is why it took so
much time,” he said. “It was a meaningful, highly specific and
substantive conversation. Sometimes we said, ‘Yes, we can discuss this,
but with that one we cannot agree.’"
Trump said Wednesday that Witkoff and Kushner came away from the
marathon session confident that Putin wants to find an end to the war.
“Their impression was very strongly that he’d like to make a deal,” he
added.
Putin said the initial U.S. 28-point peace proposal was trimmed to 27
points and split into four packages. He refused to elaborate on what
Russia could accept or reject, and none of the other officials involved
offered details of the talks.
The Russian leader praised Trump’s peace efforts, noting that “achieving
consensus among conflicting parties is no easy task.”
“To say now what exactly doesn’t suit us or where we could possibly
agree seems premature, since it might disrupt the very mode of operation
that President Trump is trying to establish,” Putin said.
He emphasized that Russia will fulfill the goals it set and take all of
the eastern Donetsk region. “All this boils down to one thing: Either we
take back these territories by force, or eventually Ukrainian troops
withdraw,” he said.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attends a joint news
conference with Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides in Kyiv,
Ukraine, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Dan Bashakov)
European leaders, left on the sidelines by Washington as U.S.
officials engage directly with Moscow and Kyiv, have accused Putin
of feigning interest in Trump's peace drive.
French President Emmanuel Macron met in Beijing with Chinese leader
Xi Jinping, seeking to involve him in pressuring Russia toward a
ceasefire. Xi, whose country has provided strong diplomatic support
for Putin, did not say respond to France’s call, but said that
“China supports all efforts that work towards peace.”
Russian barrages of civilian areas of Ukraine continued overnight
into Thursday. A missile struck Kryvyi Rih on Wednesday night,
wounding six people, including a 3-year-old girl, according to city
administration head Oleksandr Vilkul.
The attack on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown
damaged more than 40 residential buildings, a school and domestic
gas pipes, Vilkul said.
A 6-year-old girl died in the southern city of Kherson after Russian
artillery shelling wounded her the previous day, regional military
administration chief Oleksandr Prokudin wrote on Telegram.
The Kherson Thermal Power Plant, which provides heat for over 40,000
residents, shut down Thursday after Russia pounded it with drones
and artillery for several days, he said.
Authorities planned emergency meetings to find alternate sources of
heating, he said. Until then, tents were erected across the city
where residents could warm up and charge electronic devices.
Russia also struck Odesa with drones, wounding six people, while
civilian and energy infrastructure was damaged, said Oleh Kiper,
head of the regional military administration.
Overall, Russia fired two ballistic missiles and 138 drones at
Ukraine overnight, officials said.
Meanwhile, in the Russia-occupied part of the Kherson region, two
men were killed by a Ukrainian drone strike on their vehicle
Thursday, Moscow-installed regional leader Vladimir Saldo said. A
68-year-old woman was also wounded in the attack, he said.
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Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani and Matthew Lee in Washington
contributed to this report.
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