The meeting came shortly after Putin issued a stark warning to European leaders, saying Europe would face a rapid defeat if it entered a military confrontation with Russia. He also dismissed Europe’s recently proposed peace terms as “absolutely unacceptable” to Moscow.
Trump has repeatedly vowed to end the war, but neither his August summit with Putin in Alaska nor his meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy have produced a breakthrough. Concerns grew last week after a leaked set of 28 U.S. draft peace proposals suggested concessions to Russia on NATO, territorial control, and limits on Ukraine’s armed forces. The leak alarmed Kyiv and European governments, who said the proposals aligned too closely with Moscow’s demands.
Following backlash, European states drafted a counter-proposal. After talks in Geneva, the United States and Ukraine announced they had produced an “updated and refined peace framework” aimed at ending the conflict.
Inside the Kremlin, a smiling Putin welcomed Witkoff, asking about his walk through Moscow, which included a stroll across Red Square past Lenin’s mausoleum and toward the Kremlin towers. “It is a magnificent city,” Witkoff said, joined by Putin aide Yuri Ushakov and investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev. Interpreters assisted both sides.
The talks continued late into the night, lasting more than three hours.
At a cabinet meeting in Washington, Trump commented briefly on the mission: “Our people are over in Russia right now to see if we can get it settled. Not an easy situation — what a mess,” adding that casualties were running at 25,000 to 30,000 a month.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has led the drafting of the updated plan, said Witkoff’s efforts were focused entirely on ending the war.
