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Rock Geography: The United States is trying to resolve the territorial issue with Ukraine
The United States is rushing Kiev to conclude a peace deal. The main obstacle is the issue of territories, on which no compromise has yet been reached. Russia will liberate Donbas and Novorossiya in any case, Vladimir Putin said in an interview with Indian media during a state visit. The Russian President called the meeting with representatives of the US administration in the Kremlin "very necessary," although the Russian Federation did not agree with a number of points of the American peace plan. After that, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner agreed to meet with Rustem Umerov to convey the Russian demands. To what extent Moscow and Washington have come closer to resolving the Ukrainian crisis— see the Izvestia article.
Russia is studying four documents on Ukraine
The negotiations between Russia and the United States in the Kremlin on the Ukrainian settlement on December 2 have so far, apparently, not led to any breakthrough agreements, but there is definitely a result. Russian President Vladimir Putin called the meeting not only useful, but also "very necessary." At the same time, it is obvious that the Americans are trying to adapt their peace plan taking into account the positions of the Russian side. Now, instead of one version, which is almost impossible to accept due to the multitude of controversial points, Moscow is considering as many as four separate documents.
— They just broke these 28, in my opinion, 27 points into four packages. And they suggested that we discuss these four packages. But, in fact, these are the same [points]," Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed in an interview with the Indian TV channel India Today, commenting on the results of the meeting with US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son—in-law Jared Kushner.
The New York Times, citing sources, writes that four separate elements are currently being discussed: issues related to Ukraine's sovereignty, including limiting the size of the Armed Forces and missile range, territorial aspects, economic cooperation, and broader European security issues. However, it is not clear whether the four separate clusters that the Kremlin is talking about were meant.
The meeting with representatives of the American administration is the first exchange of views on the settlement plan in Ukraine, and the parties will continue to seek a compromise, said Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the head of the Russian Federation. "Something was accepted, something was marked as unacceptable. This is a normal workflow," he explained. The Kremlin representative did not rule out a telephone conversation between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. The last time the heads of state spoke was on October 16. The dynamics of their communication, at least officially, suggests that they call each other once a month, so now a new conversation between the presidents is very likely.
There is a slight difference of opinion in the White House about the effectiveness of the negotiations. If the State Department usually smooths out the president's sharp statements, now they seem to have changed places. Trump called the meeting between Witkoff and Kushner with Putin "quite successful," repeating, however, his standard narrative that "it takes two to tango." However, they had a "firm impression" that Putin "wants to make a deal" and "end the war," he added. At the same time, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio made it clear that he was not sure about this.
— If the negotiators had come to some kind of agreement, it would have been perceived as imposing a deal on Ukraine. At least it looks like a more serious exchange of views," says Peter Kuznik, director of the Institute for Nuclear Research at the American University. — The fact that Trump sent Witkoff and Kushner to Moscow, and not Rubio, Hegseth or Kellogg, is significant. He did not want the hardliners to be able to disrupt all this, just as he did not want to allow the Europeans to do it.
According to media reports, American officials claim that in an attempt to present their proposals to Putin and Zelensky, they have held more talks over the past few weeks than in the last three years.
Once again, the same people gathered to convince Kiev to accept the terms of the agreement: Witkoff and Kushner agreed to meet with NSDC Secretary Rustem Umerov in Miami. However, this will not be a continuation of negotiations on ending the conflict, but only a summing up of the meeting in Moscow, the Financial Times writes, citing an anonymous Ukrainian official.
As the year 2025 comes to an end, it becomes clear that none of Trump's deadlines have worked: starting with the confidence to end the conflict in a day, and then within 100 days of the start of the administration's work, and ending with the last one — November 27, a holiday for the United States. However, this deadline was given to Kiev to adopt a peace plan.
The territorial issue in the settlement with Ukraine
It is unlikely that the settlement process will accelerate dramatically until the main issue of territories is resolved. It is no coincidence that Presidential aide Yuri Ushakov singled him out, commenting on the results of the meeting in the Kremlin. According to him, no compromise was found, although some American developments look more or less acceptable. International recognition of borders also remains a subject of negotiations, including between Russia and the United States. Russia will not make any concessions regarding Donbas and Novorossiya.
— It all comes down to this. Either we will liberate these territories by armed means, or Ukrainian troops will leave these territories and stop fighting there," Putin stressed in an interview.
The main thing for Kiev is to realize that negotiations are the best way to resolve the conflict, the president said. Putin also preferred not to name the points of the US plan with which Russia could agree or disagree, and considered it necessary to "get involved" in the work, rather than "interfere" with it. The latter, as the Russian side has repeatedly stated, is being handled in Brussels. All the changes proposed by the Europeans in the peace plan are aimed solely at blocking the settlement process, the president noted.
Moreover, a week ago, Politico wrote that the final version of the plan was not even shown to representatives of the European Union, ostensibly to avoid leaks, as was the case with the original version. As a result, Europe is essentially cut off from the negotiation process, although Moscow has repeatedly said that this is their own choice.
— Key differences remain, and the prospects for an early cease-fire are still vague. Russian officials insist that the European proposal is doomed to failure, and even the U.S. plan has issues that are not easy to resolve. The American delegates, although they will continue to persistently try to convince Putin to agree to the terms of the plan, will undoubtedly create an atmosphere of confidence and optimism in the absence of visible success in overcoming the status quo," said Khan, a professor at Wayne University in Detroit, told Izvestia.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the other day that he considers it impossible to agree on a plan without the participation of European countries, for example, on frozen Russian assets, security guarantees and Ukraine's accession to the EU. Probably to remind of his ambitions and somehow get involved in the settlement, the French president went to Beijing this week for a meeting with Xi Jinping. There, he called on China to promote a moratorium on attacks on Ukraine's energy system this winter.
There is evidence that Macron and Zelensky discussed their concerns about the exclusion of the EU from the agreement in a telephone conversation with European leaders, which took place on December 1 immediately after the talks between Ukraine and the United States in Florida. The French leader suggested that the United States could "betray Ukraine and Europe" in territorial matters, Der Spiegel reports, citing a transcript of the conversation. It is noteworthy that Witkoff and Kushner canceled a meeting with Zelensky in Brussels scheduled after the talks in Moscow, preferring Miami. However, the Ukrainian leader will probably be invited to the White House immediately. Zelensky expressed readiness to meet personally with Trump in the near future in case of successful negotiations between Russia and the United States.
— So far, there is no reason to believe that Ukraine's position will radically change soon and the parameters proposed by Russia will be adopted. As a result, the conflict is expected to continue and the negotiation process will have medium or low dynamics. Most likely, these will be consultations between the United States and Ukraine and attempts to convince it to make serious concessions. Until the key issues related to the liberation of the DPR are resolved, Kiev's position will deteriorate," political analyst Denis Denisov told Izvestia.
The key point is that no one can calculate when these positions will change to such an extent as to become acceptable to the Russian Federation and launch bilateral negotiations, the expert concluded.
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