Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov stated on Wednesday that his government had yet to discuss the U.S.-proposed deal to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, contrary to multiple reports, and that such talks would not occur until U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow.
President Donald Trump confirmed in a statement on his website, Truth Social, that he had tasked Witkoff with traveling to Moscow following vigorous negotiations with Ukraine led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio last weekend. Reports suggest that Witkoff will arrive in Russia next week, indicating that the proposed Thanksgiving deadline for a peace agreement will not hold.
The president, who had proposed a soft deadline of Thanksgiving to end the conflict, told reporters on Air Force One on Wednesday, “The deadline for me is when it’s over.”
The White House reportedly drafted a 28-point peace plan and presented it to the Ukrainian government over the weekend. President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that his team is working to negotiate a deal that properly addresses his government’s concerns, and some reports have since claimed that the 28-point plan has been reduced to 19 or 20 points. No public reports have offered a definitive version of the updated plan, and the Russian government denies having any private access to it.
“The Russian side has not negotiated any specific documents with anyone yet,” Ushakov, the presidential aide, told reporters on Wednesday, according to the Russian news agency Tass.
“We have scheduled a meeting with Mr. Witkoff. I hope he is not arriving alone and that other members of the U.S. team handling the Ukrainian dossier will accompany him,” Ushakov added. “Discussions will begin once they arrive.”
Ushakov confirmed that Russian officials had met with American envoys, led by U.S. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll, this week in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to the Moscow Times. He denied that the meeting addressed the peace plan, however, claiming that the talks involved “practical security issues.” Ushakov did indicate that the talks touched on potential prisoner exchanges with Ukraine but without citing a definitive end to the war.
Ushakov’s confirmation of the Abu Dhabi meeting followed anonymous mainstream media reports and a refusal to deny the existence of those conversations by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. On Tuesday, Lavrov stated only that back-channels to communication with the Americans exist and that dialogue remained consistent. As for the peace agreement brokered with Ukraine, Lavrov claimed, “Our American colleagues have not yet provided us with the version the media are speculating about.”
President Trump weighed in on the negotiations via Truth Social on Tuesday evening, applauding his negotiators for the “tremendous progress” made in resolving the conflict this week.
“The original 28-Point Peace Plan, which was drafted by the United States, has been fine-tuned, with additional input from both sides, and there are only a few remaining points of disagreement,” Trump wrote. “In the hopes of finalizing this Peace Plan, I have directed my Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with President Putin in Moscow and, at the same time, Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll will be meeting with the Ukrainians.”
“I look forward to hopefully meeting with President Zelenskyy and President Putin soon, but ONLY when the deal to end this War is FINAL or, in its final stages,” he added.
Russia has been at war with Ukraine since at least 2014 when it illegally colonized Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula. In 2022, strongman Vladimir Putin launched a “special operation” to oust Zelensky, accusing Ukraine’s Jewish president of being a “Nazi.” That operation became a full-scale invasion that persists to this day and has cost Ukraine control of at least four regions militarily “annexed” by Putin: Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk.
The current round of negotiations escalated this weekend as Ukraine sent negotiators to meet with Secretary of State Rubio in Geneva, Switzerland, on Saturday. Rubio celebrated those talks as “the most productive and meaningful so far,” while Zelensky strongly indicated that he was inclined to agree to it. Reports that Ukraine had accepted a modified version of the peace agreement surfaced soon afterwards.
The conflict has not abated during the talks, however. Russia launched a renewed barrage of strikes on civilian targets in western Ukraine overnight Monday into Tuesday, and continued its attacks the next day. The latest update from the Ukrainian Armed Forces, as per the state outlet Ukrinform, indicates Russia “carried out two missile strikes using 24 missiles and launched 66 airstrikes, dropping 178 guided aerial bombs on the positions of Ukrainian troops and populated areas” the prior 24 hours.
“Additionally, Russian forces conducted 4,494 attacks, including 153 using multiple launch rocket systems, and deployed 6,925 kamikaze drones,” Ukrinform shared.
Zelensky nonetheless appeared optimistic in a video update late on Tuesday.
“I count on continued active cooperation with the American side and President Trump,” Zelensky said in his message. “Much depends on the United States because it’s America’s strength that Russia takes most seriously.”
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