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Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to meet with President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow today to discuss the U.S.-led peace plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war. The pair will be joined for the high-stakes sit-down by Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
The summit comes after Witkoff and Kushner, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, led a U.S. delegation in talks with Ukrainian officials in Florida over the weekend. Rubio said the meetings, which followed on from similar talks between U.S. and Ukrainian representatives in Geneva last week, were “productive,” but admitted there’s “more work to be done.”
“This is delicate, it’s complicated, and there’s a lot of moving parts,” Rubio told reporters after the sit-down. “Obviously, there’s another party involved [Russia] that will have to be a part of the equation, and that will continue later this week when Mr. Witkoff travels to Moscow.”
The Ukrainian delegation in Florida was led by a new negotiator, Rustem Umerov, who serves as the country’s National Security and Defense Council secretary. Umerov took over the helm from Andriy Yermak, who resigned as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief-of-staff last week after a raid on his home by two national anti-corruption agencies amid a widespread corruption scandal.
The Trump Administration’s 28-point proposal to end the Russia-Ukraine war leaked on Nov. 20, and has since been vigorously discussed by the two main parties, European officials, and the U.S.
Among the more controversial points of the proposal was the stipulation that Kyiv reduce its army and make significant land concessions—a request Ukraine has always adamantly ruled out as a possibility. The proposal also contained a pledge that Ukraine won’t join NATO, shutting down one of Zelensky’s long-time ambitions. Trump previously urged Zelensky to forgo Crimea and retire the idea of joining NATO. The U.S. President reiterated his stance…
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