Real estate developer Steve Witkoff (C) and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner (R) with a translator in their Kremlin meeting with Vladimir Putin, Moscow, Russia, December 2, 2025

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Tuesday’s Coverage: Witkoff and Kushner in the Kremlin

There were no significant developments in Tuesday’s 5-hour Kremlin talks between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

Putin’s foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov, who was in the meeting, said the Trump camp and the Kremlin were “neither further nor closer to resolving the crisis in Ukraine. There is a lot of work to be done.” There was no agreement over Russia’s demand to seize more Ukrainian territory.

The advisor added vaguely:

We did not discuss…specific American proposals, but discussed the essence of what is embedded in these American documents. We could agree with some things … and the president also did not hide our critical and even negative attitude towards a number of proposals.

Witkoff and Kushner, who helped the Kremlin develop its ultimatum to Ukraine at the end of October, made no comment after the meeting.

Their public statements were limited to a brief video of the opening of the session where they told Putin how lovely it was to walk through Moscow, “a magnificent city”. Putin responded with small talk about the efforts made by Russian authorities to beautify the capital.

Putin was flanked by Ushakov and his top economic advisor Kirill Dmitriev, who worked with Kushner and Witkoff in Florida in late October on the ultimatum. The Americans were accompanied only by a translator.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio — who has held out against the Witkoff-Kushner-Kremlin ultimatum and supported a European counter-proposal — said later that “some progress” was made on assurances to Kyiv.

“What we have tried to do, and I think have made some progress, is figure out, what could the Ukrainians live with that gives them security guarantees for the future,” Rubio told Fox TV. He added that the US hoped a compromise would allow them “not just to rebuild their economy, but to prosper as a country”.

Putin Threatens Europe; Zelensky Waits for “Signals” from US

Rather than showing any willingness for a settlement, Putin used the encounter to threaten Ukraine’s European partners.

Before Witkoff and Kushner’s arrival, he blustered about the European counter-proposal, which sets the priority of a ceasefire on the current frontlines:

Europe is preventing the US administration from achieving peace on Ukraine. Russia does not intend to fight Europe, but if Europe starts, we are ready right now.

He snapped that “European demands” were “not acceptable to Russia”, without specifying which demands. “They are on the side of war,” he chided.

In contrast, Volodymyr Zelensky posted that Ukraine was “waiting for signals from the American delegation”.

The next steps will depend on those signals.

We will receive signals of one kind or another. If the signals work out in a certain way – if it is fair play with our partners – then we may meet with the American delegation very quickly….If the signals open the possibility and the chance for global but swift decisions, then the meeting will take place at a higher level.

Speaking in Dublin, Zelensky said Putin’s threat showed, “Now he is thinking how to find new reasons not to [end] this war….[He] underlines by these words that he’s not European.”

He added that he is counting on “pressure from the US” and others to advance the talks to end Russia’s invasion.

In an address to the Irish Parliament, Zelensky called for a “community of nations” to ensure “justice will prevail”. He emphasized, “No one can break the world alone – not even Russia.”

Without mentioning the Trump Administration, the President decried the politics of “business as usual” and “appeasement”.

Please remind the world every time it is needed that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a criminal and unprovoked act of aggression….

It happened for one reason only: because Russia wants to treat Ukraine at its property and Ukrainians as if they belong in its back yard like livestock.