US and Ukraine delegations meet near Miami, Florida, November 30, 2025. The Americans include Secretary of State Marco Rubio (2nd from L), real estate developer Steve Witkoff (1st from L), and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner (3rd from L). Kyiv’s officials are led by Rustem Umerov, head of the National Security and Defense Council (2nd from R).

EA on War and Politics 24: Dealing with Witkoff and Kushner in the Kremlin

EA-Times Radio VideoCast: Witkoff and Kushner Confer with the Kremlin

EA on RTE: Real Estate Developer and Trump’s Son-in-Law Visit Putin

EA on RTE: Zelensky in Ireland

Wednesday’s Coverage: Nothing Happens in 5-Hour Witkoff-Kushner-Putin Talks

UPDATE 1614 GMT:

More than 40,000 residents of the Kherson in southern Ukraine are without heating after the city’s central heating plant was knocked out by repeated Russian strikes.

The closure came after several days of sustained attacks by drones and artillery, targeting the halls and equipment of the plant, said Kherson Governor Oleksandr Prokudin. A total of 470 buildings are affected by the outage.

UPDATE 1510 GMT:

The UN General Assembly has approved a resolution demanding the return of all Ukrainian children who have been abducted by Russia.

The measure passed 91-12 on Wednesday. The US supported the resolution, while Russia, Belarus and Iran voted against it. Another 57 countries abstained, including China, India and Brazil.

Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has identified almost 20,000 children illegally transferred to Russia, Belarus, or Russian-occupied territories.

As of December, Ukraine secured the release of 1,859 children, according to First Lady Olena Zelenska.

“There will be no just peace in Ukraine without the unconditional return of Ukrainian children. This resolution is not about politics. It is about humanity,” Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mariana Betsa told the General Assembly.

The resolution calls for an end to further deportations, family separations, changes in citizenship, adoptions, fostering, and ideological indoctrination.

UPDATE 1359 GMT:

European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will have an emergency dinner with Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Wever on Friday night, trying to remove Brussels’ objection to a “reparations loan” funding Ukraine’s government and public services.

The loan would be drawn from €210 million in frozen Russian assets in Europe, 2/3rds of which are held by Belgium’s Euroclear. The Belgian Government has refused consent, citing the risk of liability from legal action.

De Wever said at an event on Monday that it was “complete illusion” to believe Russia would lose in its invasion, and complained about “incredible” pressure from the Kremlin.

“Moscow has let us know that…Belgium and I personally will feel the effect for eternity,” De Wever said. “That seems like a pretty long time.”

He warned Russia might confiscate western assets, including €16 billion of Euroclear’s funds in Russia, or Belgian-owned factories in the country.

“And what if Belarus and China also confiscated western assets? Have we considered all of this? No, we haven’t,” he added.

Despite the objection, Von der Leyen presented plans on Wednesday to cover 2/3rds of Ukraine’s finances for 2026-2027 – around €90 billion ($105 billion) – with the rest to be provided by international partners.

The EU contribution would be funded through borrowing on capital markets and the use of cash balances from the frozen Russian assets.

UPDATE 1324 GMT:

In a conference call on Monday about the Trump camp’s collusion with the Kremlin, European leaders agreed on the risk of Washington selling out Ukraine and Europe.

The German magazine Der Spiegel obtained a leaked English-language note from the call, which included Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.

French President Emmanuel Macron warned, “There is a chance that the US will betray Ukraine on territory without clarity on security guarantees.”

Speaking about talks to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Macron said they were “a big danger” for Volodymyr Zelensky. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz added that Zelensky needed to be “very careful.”

Referring to the visit of Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to the Kremlin, Merz said, “They are playing games with both you and us.”

Finland’s President Alexander Stubb said, “We must not leave Ukraine and Volodymyr alone with these guys.” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte agreed “that we need to protect Volodymyr”.

The other participants included Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk; Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni; Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen; Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen; and European Council President António Costa.

UPDATE 1027 GMT:

Amid tightening restrictions on the Internet and mobile communications, Russia has blocked FaceTime.

The Russian regulator Roskomnadzor declared that FaceTime is used “to organize and conduct terrorist activities in the country, recruit perpetrators, and commit fraudulent and other crimes against our citizens.”

UPDATE 0939 GMT:

Ukraine’s drones have again struck Russia’s largest fertilizer producer, the Nevinnomyssk Azot chemical plant.

Vladimir Vladimirov, the governor of the Stavropol region in southwest Russia, acknowledged the attack on “targets” while claiming that there are no casualties or damage.

Nevinnomyssk Azot produces ammonia, urea, melamine, ammonium nitrate, liquid nitrogen fertilizers, acetic acid, and vinyl acetate. Its output is used in the production of artillery shells.

The plant was also attacked on June 14, temporarily halting production, and on July 2025.

UPDATE 0927 GMT:

Vladimir Putin, who will be in India on Thursday and Friday, has declared that he will “in any case” seize the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine “by military or other means”.

Putin said Tuesday’s meeting with Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner was necessary and useful, although the American proposals contained points with which Russia disagreed.

“Somewhere they said, yes, we can discuss this, but we cannot agree to this,” Putin said. “Getting the conflicting parties to reach some kind of consensus is no easy task.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declared on Tuesday that India’s imports of Russian oil may decline for only “a brief period”, despite US sanctions that have sharply reduced the purchases.

Of India’s seven leading refiners, only Nayara Energy is still processing Russian oil without limits.

Three refiners — Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals, Hindustan Petroleum Corp, and HPCL-Mittal Energy — have halted purchases. State-run Indian Oil is ordering Russian oil from non-sanctioned entities. Bharat Petroleum Corp is in an advanced stage of negotiations to import Russian oil while avoiding sanctions.

India has reached a deal to lease a nuclear submarine from Russia, after negotiations dragged on for almost a decade over the price.

India will pay Moscow $2 billion over 10 years, including for technical support.

India has two nuclear submarines, but the Russian one will be larger. It is is expected to be delivered within two years, but due to the project’s complexity, the deadline may be delayed.

UPDATE 0836 GMT:

Ukraine’s air defenses downed 114 of 138 drones launched by Russia overnight.

The other 24 UAVs struck 14 locations.

The Russians also fired two Iskander-M ballistic missiles.

Two civilians were murdered and 13 injured in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine by Russian shelling.

UPDATE 0827 GMT:

At least two abducted Ukrainian children have been transferred to a camp in North Korea, reports Ukraine’s Regional Center for Human Rights.

RCHR’s legal expert Kateryna Rashevska told a US Congressional subcommittee on Wednesday:

12-year-old Misha from the occupied Donetsk region and 16-year-old Liza from occupied Simferopol were sent to Songdowon camp in North Korea, 9,000 km from home.

Children there were taught to “destroy Japanese militarists” and met Korean veterans who in 1968 attacked the US Navy ship Pueblo, killing and wounding nine American soldiers.

Ukrainian officials have documented the abduction of at least 19,546 Ukrainian children from Russian-occupied territories during Moscow’s full-scale invasion. The juveniles were taken to Russia or Russian-controlled areas.

“The Regional Center for Human Rights documented 165 re-education camps where Ukrainian children are militarized and Russified. These camps exist in occupied territories, Russia, Belarus, and North Korea,” Rashevska said.

UPDATE 0817 GMT:

Australia and New Zealand are contributing to the fund for NATO countries to buy US military equipment and transfer it to Ukraine.

Canberra has pledged A$50 million ($33.1 million) for the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List. Australia will also donate $43 million of supplies and weapons, including tactical air defence radars, munitions and combat engineering equipment, and another $2 million will be provided to help Ukraine with advanced drone technologies. In coming weeks, the final group of 49 US-made M1A1 Abrams tanks gifted by Australia will be delivered.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced sanctions on another 45 Russian “shadow fleet” tankers, and financial restrictions and travel bans on more than 1,180 people and 293 entities.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will meet Ukraine’s top official Rustem Umerov in Florida on Thursday, two days after they conferred with Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin.

Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s Ambassador to the US, confirmed the sit-down between real estate developer Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Kushner, and Umerov, the Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council.

In his nightly address to the nation, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said:

We’re preparing meetings in the United States – after the American team returns from Moscow and following the relevant consultations in Washington.

Everything is now proceeding quite effectively – at meetings in Geneva and Florida, Ukraine was heard, and Ukraine was listened to. And that matters. We expect it will continue exactly this way.

In late October, Witkoff and Kushner worked with Vladimir Putin’s top economic advisor Kirill Dmitriev on a 28-point ultimatum to Kyiv, developing a Russian draft from the spring.

Ukraine’s European partners, supported by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, pushed back the ultimatum in meetings in Geneva and Florida. The European counter-proposal set the priority of a ceasefire based on frontlines, rather than Ukraine giving up the rest of the strategic Donetsk region to Russia. Kyiv’s membership in NATO would not be banned, and Western military assistance would not be restricted.

The Europeans also removed clauses which gave the Trump camp 50% of the profits from Ukraine’s recovery fund and compensation for any security guarantees.

On Tuesday, Putin kept Witkoff and Kushner waiting for three hours in the Kremlin. He then hosted them for five hours.

No details were given, and the Trump envoys made no comment. Putin’s foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov said some American points were acceptable but others were not.

We agreed that at the level of representatives and assistants, we will continue contacts with the Americans, in particular with these two people.

As for a possible meeting at the Presidential level, that will depend on what progress we can achieve along this path.

A Kremlin official added that “so far, a compromise hasn’t been found” on Russia’s demand for more Ukrainian territory, without which the Kremlin sees “no resolution to the crisis”.