Vladimir Putin greets Donald Trump’s envoy, real estate developer Steve Witkoff, in the Kremlin, Moscow, Russia, April 25, 2025 (Kristina Kormilitsyna/AFP/Getty)

EA-Times Radio VideoCast: The Battle — Kremlin-Witkoff-Kushner-Vance v. Ukraine-Europe-Rubio

EA on TVP World and RTE: Can US-Ukraine Talks Push Back Witkoff-Kushner Collusion With Kremlin?

Monday’s Coverage: US-Kyiv Meeting Is “Difficult But Productive”

Having colluded with Russia on an ultimatum to Ukraine, Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner visit Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on Tuesday.

Witkoff and Kushner worked in late October with Putin’s top economic advisor Kirill Dmitriev on a 28-point proposal seeking Kyiv’s surrender of territory. The rest of the country would be restricted by a ban on NATO membership, a cap on troop levels, and limits on Western military assistance. The US would receive compensation for any security guarantees, and 50% of profits from a fund for Ukraine’s recovery.

The 28 points, which originated in a Kremlin initiative last spring, were pushed back by a European counter-proposal in Geneva on November 23. The response was backed by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who undermined the Witkoff-Kushner scheme by ensuring that it was revealed as a Kremlin plan.

On Sunday, a US delegation led by Rubio met Ukrainian officials in Florida in what were described as “difficult but productive” talks. Witkoff and Kushner were also present.

Yesterday Witkoff met the head of the Ukrainian delegation, Rustem Umerov. Rubio was absent, and no details were released of the conversation.

Zelensky in Paris

Alongside French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Monday, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters that Kyiv is focused on security guarantees, maintaining its sovereignty and territory.

He stressed that Russia must not get rewards for its aggression on Ukraine.

Macron reaffirmed France’s “full support” for Kyiv: “At a time when we are talking about peace, Russia continues to kill and destroy.”

He continued the flattery of Trump, commending US efforts to end the war, but “when we talk about peace, everyone has a role to play”: “Russia must stop the aggression. It has given no signal, no proof to that effect.”

Only Ukraine can make decisions about its territory, Macron streesed, and security guarantees must not be discussed without Kyiv and its European partners, “the guarantors”.

Umerov spoke with Al Jazeera Arabic about the Kremlin-Witkoff-Kushner demand that Ukraine give up the 22% of the Donetsk region, in the east of the country, which it holds despite Russia’s 46-month full-scale assault.

“We told the American side that it is unacceptable for Russia to continue its occupation of our territory and then demand that we grant it legitimacy,” said the head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council.

Giving up our territory means that international law no longer exists and that any party can use force to abolish the sovereignty of another party….We are seeking security for both Europe and Ukraine.