Fundamental request: The Russian Federation and the United States are discussing controversial aspects of the peace plan

Vladimir Putin and Steve Witkoff held talks in Moscow. This is the sixth visit of the special envoy of the President of the United States to Russia in a year — this time he came to discuss the American peace plan. A number of controversial points remain in it — Moscow does not accept Ukraine's accession to NATO and the deployment of foreign troops, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized. Meanwhile, Kiev's positions are deteriorating on the battlefield every day. The Russian Armed Forces recently liberated Volchansk and Krasnoarmeysk. At the same time, Moscow handed over evidence of the killing of local residents by the Ukrainian Armed Forces to the UN Security Council and the OSCE, the Foreign Ministry told Izvestia.

The meeting between Witkoff and Putin

For the sixth time this year, Special envoy of the President of the United States Steve Witkoff arrived in Russia on a visit. On December 2, the American's plane landed in Moscow around two o'clock in the afternoon. The main purpose of such a long trip is to meet with Vladimir Putin. At Vnukovo-2 airport, Witkoff was greeted like an old acquaintance by Kirill Dmitriev, the special representative of the President of the Russian Federation.

Before the conversation with Putin, Witkoff was treated to classic Russian dishes in a Moscow restaurant, such as red, beluga and pike caviar, which are Russian. Donald Trump's son—in-law Jared Kushner also flew with the special envoy of the American leader. This is his first contact with Vladimir Putin. Kushner does not have an official position in the US administration, but he previously participated in the negotiations on a cease-fire in Gaza, and during his father-in-law's previous term he played a key role in the "Abraham Agreements" (a series of agreements on the normalization of relations between Israel and a number of Arab states). So now, the presence of Kushner, who was dubbed the "shadow secretary of state," was interpreted by the media as a signal from Trump about his desire to really achieve a peaceful settlement. Kirill Dmitriev and Presidential aide Yuri Ushakov accompanied Vladimir Putin at the talks.

On the eve of the visit, the US authorities had been working intensively with the Ukrainian side for two weeks, editing the peace plan every now and then. The settlement agreement should provide for the elimination of the root causes of the conflict, Russian Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on December 2. In particular, he noted that Kiev's membership in NATO and the deployment of foreign troops are among the issues that need to be resolved to establish sustainable peace. At the same time, the Kremlin representative praised the US mediation and assured: "We are ready to contribute to this because we are interested in peace."

Rapid progress should not be expected from the negotiations, since before the meeting between Putin and Witkoff, there were no noticeable concessions from the Ukrainian side on key issues for Russia, including reducing the size of the Armed Forces, withdrawing them from occupied territories and consolidating Ukraine's non-aligned status, said Tigran Meloyan, an analyst at the HSE Center for Mediterranean Studies.

"Therefore, we are in a situation where more than one round of negotiations will be required until Kiev recognizes the true state of affairs and accepts the peace terms proposed by Moscow, which can only get tougher each time," the expert said.

Meanwhile, the situation on the battlefield for Ukraine is rapidly deteriorating, which allows Moscow to tighten these conditions. On November 30, the General Staff informed Putin about the liberation of Krasnoarmeysk in the DPR and Volchansk in the Kharkiv region. And on December 2, the president personally announced that Kupyansk-Uzlovoy would be completely liberated in a few days. In addition, an operation has begun to liberate the city of Gulyai-Pole in Zaporizhia.

New evidence of the crimes of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is also emerging, which hardly increases the credibility in the eyes of Kiev's allies. Moscow has handed over evidence of the killing of civilians by the Ukrainian military in Volchansk and Krasnoarmeysk to the UN Security Council and the OSCE, Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik told Izvestia.

— Definitely, that's what we're doing. That is, now our representatives, at least in the UN Security Council, the OSCE, and the OSCE security Forum, have this data," the diplomat said.

Foreign mercenaries may also be involved. At least the interviewed eyewitnesses confirmed the presence of Americans, Irish and Poles there. However, there is no evidence of their involvement in the torture and torture of civilians, emphasizes Rodion Miroshnik.

The mere fact of Steve Witkoff's visit to Russia does not necessarily indicate any tangible progress in the settlement in Ukraine, political analyst Ivan Loshkarev told Izvestia.

— Russia is in a more advantageous position. It retains an advantage on the battlefield and a sufficiently high rate of economic restructuring in order to further achieve its goals. Ukraine's position is now deteriorating due to the gap in the government, as the corruption scandal has caused a significant split between Kiev and its allies in Europe. At the same time, Russia's relations with its allies are smooth, and have not changed significantly over the past few years," the expert notes.

At the same time, American delegates will continue to persistently demand that Putin accept the terms of the proposed peace agreement, said Khan, a professor at Wayne University in Detroit. The American delegates will probably remind the Russian side that many consider this proposal to be favorable. In case of refusal, the pressure on Moscow may increase.

The situation around the peaceful settlement in Ukraine

Vladimir Zelensky has been actively seeking support in European capitals in recent days. On the evening of December 1, accompanied by his wife Elena, the Ukrainian leader arrived in Dublin, his first official visit to Ireland. As a result, Ukraine has secured additional assistance: Dublin intends to allocate a total of €125 million, of which €100 million will be used to provide non—lethal military support to Kiev, and the rest to restore and protect the Ukrainian energy infrastructure and ensure critical electricity supplies.

At a press conference, Zelensky was asked about his expectations from the talks between Putin and Witkoff. The signals following the conversation will determine the date of the next meeting with the American delegation, Zelensky stressed. At the same time, Axios reports that Witkoff and Kushner may meet with the Ukrainian leader as early as December 3 in Europe to give him the details of the conversation with Putin.

The head of the Kiev regime flew to Ireland directly from France. There, in addition to a personal conversation, Vladimir Zelensky and Emmanuel Macron took the opportunity to discuss the situation by phone with other European politicians, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The situation was discussed in the same format with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Rustem Umerov and Witkoff. The latter two, according to media reports, also met in advance back in the States.

Following talks with Macron, Zelensky said: the final version of the peace proposals is still being agreed upon, and the most difficult issue is the territorial one. In their plan, the United States lobbied for the de facto recognition of Crimea, the LPR, and the DPR by Russia, as well as the freezing of the sides' positions in Kherson and Zaporizhia along the line of contact. At the talks in Florida last weekend, the Ukrainian delegation failed to take into account its position on this issue, foreign media reported.

On the other hand, a number of European countries insist on harsh and unacceptable conditions for Moscow, trying to adjust the parameters of the agreement in their favor. Against this background, Vladimir Putin, at a press conference after his speech at the "Russia is calling!" forum on December 2, stressed that the Europeans did not like the results of the efforts of the Trump team. The changes proposed by Europe are aimed only at blocking the peace process, the president said.

— For some time we had close contact with them, then they abruptly cut off contacts with Russia. It was their initiative. Why did they do it? Because they adopted the thesis of inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia and still live in these illusions, although they understand with their heads that this has long been in the past," Vladimir Putin said, answering a question from Izvestia journalist Alyona Nefedova.

The economic aspects of the plan were also controversial. According to the initial 28 points, $100 billion of frozen Russian assets are supposed to be invested in the US-led efforts to rebuild Ukraine, with the States entitled to 50% of the profits. Europe, in turn, should add another $100 billion. For now, Brussels is promoting the idea of providing Kiev with a "reparation loan" at the expense of Russian funds. The rest of the assets, according to the US plan, were proposed to be invested in a special Russian-American investment instrument.

By the way, the Russian side has its own options, and much more effective ones. As Alexander Shokhin, the head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, told Izvestia, he suggested that Dmitriev convey to the Americans the idea of using assets to rebuild the Gaza Strip.

"I asked Kirill Dmitriev to give it to me, I even gave him a piece of paper," Shokhin commented. — There was another option, but it's kind of questionable now: to look at oil and gas projects in the regions. By the way, there was also an idea — which was also expressed by Trump or someone from his entourage - the resettlement of Palestine somewhere in Somaliland, the development of these territories for the Palestinians on the basis of investments, even on a temporary basis.

Nevertheless, on December 3, the permanent representatives of the EU countries will for the first time study the European Commission's plan to provide Kiev with a "reparation loan." This topic is likely to be discussed on December 18 at the summit of the leaders of the Union countries in Brussels. The heads of state have reportedly already been advised to stay in the Belgian capital longer, as discussions may drag on.