NEXTA
⚡️ Putin is once again telling the Americans that everything is going “according to plan” After more than three hours of talks in the Kremlin, Putin aide Yuri Ushakov said the Russian president gave Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner a detailed account of the Russian army’s supposed “successes” and once again demanded that the so-called “root causes of the conflict” be addressed. “Real successes by the Russian army in advancing in the combat zone were noted, and confidence was expressed that the stated goals would be achieved,” Ushakov said. But behind the familiar Kremlin rhetoric, Moscow’s position appears unchanged. According to Reuters, a source close to the Kremlin says Putin is not planning any major concessions and still hopes to seize more Ukrainian territory before the end of the year. The source said that confidence is reinforced by reports from Russian commanders. Witkoff and Kushner also appear to have arrived with their own proposals. Kushner was seen carrying a thick black folder, while Ushakov acknowledged that the Americans had brought a number of ideas on possible paths toward a settlement. Bloomberg has reported that one of the options under discussion could once again involve a demilitarized economic zone in Donbas. But there is little sign of a breakthrough. A Reuters source put it bluntly: there is no chance of an agreement on the front line until Putin finishes trying to seize the rest of Donetsk region. And this is where things get more interesting. The same Reuters sources say Putin nevertheless admitted during the talks that the situation on the battlefield is difficult. The map also looks far less triumphant than Ushakov’s version. According to ISW, Ukrainian forces made gains in Kharkiv, Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions shortly before the US envoys arrived, while several Russian offensive operations around Kupiansk, Borova, Kostiantynivka, Pokrovsk and in Zaporizhzhia produced no confirmed gains. While the Kremlin is selling Washington the image of a confident advance, the front line is telling a much less convenient story.
NEXTA
Meeting at the Kremlin: key takeaways Witkoff thanked Putin for the three-day ceasefire in Kyiv to allow the negotiations to take place, conveyed Trump’s “best wishes” to him and called his interactions with the Russian dictator “one of the best and most memorable stories” for him. Putin also said that Witkoff and Kushner would travel to Kyiv after their talks in Moscow. According to him, Trump “does not stop trying to contribute to resolving the Russian-Ukrainian conflict”, and such contacts “are always beneficial”.
