Did U.S. Special Envoy Stephen Witkoff manage, as Donald Trump put it, to “sell” an updated peace plan for Ukraine to Russia? This is perhaps the key question that many were pondering at the conclusion of the American delegation’s talks in Moscow.
Who arrived and with what attitude
This was Stephen Witkoff’s sixth visit to the Russian capital since January of 2025.
Summarizing the five-hour meeting, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov noted that “so far, a compromise version [of the peace plan] has not been found,” although some American proposals seem more or less acceptable. In the meantime, he described the meeting as “useful, constructive, and quite substantive.”
Ushakov revealed that several options for a plan to resolve the situation in Ukraine were considered. “We did not discuss specific wording or particular American proposals; rather, we focused on the essence of what is contained in these American documents,” the presidential aide explained. “Some of the phrases that were proposed do not suit us. In other words, the work will continue,” Ushakov added. He declined to specify which particular phrases did not satisfy the Russian side, while confirming that territorial issues were specifically discussed. “We agreed with our American colleagues not to disclose the essence of the negotiations. This is quite logical. The talks were of a completely closed, secret nature,” the Kremlin representative concluded.
