The White House reported that Ukrainian and US negotiators met in Florida

The White House announced that Ukrainian and US negotiators would meet in Florida.

KIEV, December 3 — Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenskiy met with the national security advisers of European leaders in Brussels on Wednesday, followed by a visit to the United States, Ukrainian top negotiator Rustem Umerov said.

Speaking after US President Donald Trump’s special representative Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, Putin said on Wednesday that no consensus had been reached on a possible peace deal to end the war in Ukraine. Kremlin: It is not true to say that “Putin rejected the Ukraine plan”.

US President Trump said that the talks, which were also attended by his son-in-law Jared Kushner, went “quite well”, but said that “it takes two people to tango”, noting that it was too early to say what would happen yet.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiha said Russia “must stop the bloodshed” and accused Putin of “wasting the world’s time”. Asked by a reporter if Witkoff and Kushner believed Putin really wanted to end the war, Trump replied, “[Putin] wants to end the war. Their impression was in this direction,” he said.

Zelenskyy said on Wednesday, December 3, that a meeting between US and Ukrainian negotiators would take place “in the coming days”. “Ukrainian representatives will inform their European colleagues about what is known after the contacts held by the American side in Moscow yesterday, and will also discuss the European component of the necessary security architecture,” Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post. The US-Russia talks took place after the US held talks with the leaders of Ukraine and Europe.

During the talks, concerns were expressed that the draft of the peace agreement was too based on Russia’s demands.

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Ushakov, one of Putin’s senior foreign policy advisers, said that “some of the US proposals seemed more or less acceptable, but they needed to be discussed further”, adding that some were openly criticized by the Russian leader.

Although Ushakov did not provide further details, at least two important points of disagreement remained between Moscow and Kiev: the fate of the Ukrainian territory seized by Russian forces and security guarantees for Ukraine.

Kiev and its European partners believed that the most effective way to prevent Russia from attacking again in the future, even if there was a peace agreement, was to grant Ukraine NATO membership.

Russia was strongly opposed to such an offer, and Trump had also repeatedly stated that he had no intention of including Kiev in the alliance.

The Kremlin said on Wednesday, December 3, that the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO was a “key issue” being discussed in Moscow.

Ushakov hinted that Russia’s negotiating position had been strengthened thanks to its recent successes on the battlefield.

Ahead of the US visit to the Kremlin, Putin was pictured in his military uniform at the Russian command center and received briefings from commanders demanding the conquest of the strategically important city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine, as well as other nearby settlements.

Fighting continued in Pokrovsk and Russian forces did not control the entire city, but Russian officials believed their message of military gains was being heard by the US.

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Russian forces had made some advances in the east and appeared to have stepped up their operations in recent weeks.

According to AFP’s analysis based on data from the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW), they seized about 701 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory in November and currently controlled 19.3% of Ukrainian territory.

The Kremlin said on Wednesday, December 3, that Putin was ready to meet with the Americans “for as long as necessary”.

But as Russia-US relations became more cordial, the gulf between Moscow and Europe also deepened.

Putin accused Europe of sabotaging Russia’s relations with the United States, putting forward demands that Moscow could not accept, and obstructing the peace process.

Shortly before his meeting with Witkoff and Kushner, Putin said at a forum in Moscow that he did not want a conflict with Europe but was “ready for war”.

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British government officials dismissed Putin’s message as “one of the Kremlin’s ravings from a president who is not serious about peace”.

NATO foreign ministers met in Brussels on Wednesday (December 3rd) and Secretary General Mark Rutte said it was positive that peace talks were taking place but that Ukraine should be “put in the strongest position to continue the struggle”.

EU member states reached an agreement with members of the European Parliament on making Europe completely independent from Russian gas by the end of 2027.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the long-term gas pipeline contracts with Russia would expire by September 2027, and that long-term contracts for liquefied natural gas would be banned from January 2027. She said it was the “beginning of a new era” under the agreement.

EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen said: “We have chosen energy security and independence for Europe. No more blackmail. Putin is no longer allowed to manipulate the market. We stand strong next to Ukraine,” he said.

The Commission also proposed raising 90 billion euros to finance Ukraine’s military and basic services while Russia’s war continued. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko welcomed the proposal, which would cover two-thirds of Ukraine’s financing needs for the next two years.

The White House announced that Ukrainian and US negotiators would meet in Florida after the Moscow talks.

The White House confirmed that the US Special Representative for Ukraine, Steve Witkoff, would meet with the Head of the Ukrainian National Security Council, Rustem Umerov, in Miami on Thursday.

Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow for about five hours on Tuesday, and the Kremlin said that “no concessions were made” on ending the war in Ukraine.

US President Donald Trump said the talks had gone “quite well” but added that it was too early to say what would happen, saying “it takes two people to tango”.

Putin later said that reaching a compromise would not be an “easy task”, reportedly highlighting Moscow’s repeated demand for the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Donbas region occupied by Russian forces.

Russian state media reported that Putin on Thursday said, “Everything depends on this. Either we will liberate these territories by force of arms, or the Ukrainian troops will leave these territories and stop the fighting there.”

State media reported that this description of Putin was made during an interview he gave to India Today.

Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner also attended the talks in Moscow on Tuesday.

Asked by a reporter Wednesday if Witkoff and Kushner believed Putin wanted to end the war, Trump said Putin “wants to end the war.” “That was their impression.”

However, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybhia accused Putin of “wasting the world’s time”, while Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States said that “there is no need to wait for future promises from Russia”.

Ambassador Olga Stefanishyna said that “not much progress had been made” at this stage of the talks, but the talks were continuing.

“It is clear on both sides — Ukraine and the United States — that Ukraine depends on the outcome. Ukraine has invested a lot in the determination to have a just and lasting peace in our country,” he explained.

Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky said on Wednesday that “the world clearly feels that there is a real opportunity for an end to the war” but that the negotiations “should be supported by pressure on Russia”.

The US-Russia talks followed meetings between the US and Ukrainian and European leaders. Concerns were expressed during the talks that the draft peace agreement was too based on Russian demands.

“Some of the US proposals seemed more or less acceptable, but they needed to be discussed more,” Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said, adding that some had also been openly criticized by the Russian leader.

Although Ushakov did not provide further details, there remained at least two important points of disagreement between Moscow and Kiev: the fate of the Ukrainian territory seized by Russian forces and security guarantees for Ukraine.

Kiev and its European partners believed that the most effective way to prevent Russia from attacking again in the future, even if there was a peace agreement, was to grant Ukraine NATO membership.

Russia was strongly opposed to such an offer, and Trump had also repeatedly stated that he had no intention of including Kiev in the alliance.

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO was a “key issue” being discussed in Moscow.

References

The Guardian. (2025, November 30). Ukrainian and US officials meet in Florida to discuss proposals to end Russia’s war. The Guardian.

BBC News Türkçe. (n.d.). Title of the article from BBC Türkçe. BBC News Türkçe. https://www.bbc.com/turkce/articles/c5y929kxd16o 

Reuters. (2025, December 3). Zelenskiy says Ukrainian negotiator Umerov to hold talks in Brussels. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/zelenskiy-says-ukrainian-negotiator-umerov-hold-talks-brussels-2025-12-03/  

BBC News. (n.d.). Title of the BBC News article. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7731n5z6d3o