LONDON — The White Home mentioned it’s “very optimistic” forward of particular envoy Steve Witkoff’s assembly in Moscow on Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as U.S. officers proceed their push to finish Russia’s conflict in opposition to Ukraine.
The high-stakes sit-down follows a sequence of conferences between high U.S. and Ukrainian officers, throughout which the events sought to revise the unique peace-plan proposal introduced by the Trump administration to Ukraine final month.
Witkoff and different high U.S. officers — together with President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Secretary of State Marco Rubio — met on Sunday in Florida with a Ukrainian delegation to discover a deal to finish the conflict that Ukraine and Russia may settle for.
On this pool {photograph} distributed by the Russian state company Sputnik, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin attends a gathering with Russia’s jail service head on the Kremlin in Moscow on Dec. 1, 2025.
Gavriil Grigorov/POOL/AFP through Getty Photographs
“I believe the administration feels very optimistic,” White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt informed reporters on Monday, following the Florida assembly. “They’d superb talks with the Ukrainians in Florida. And now, after all, Particular Envoy Witkoff is on his solution to Russia.”
The Kremlin on Monday mentioned a gathering between Witkoff and Putin was scheduled for Tuesday.
“The president will maintain a number of closed-door conferences right now in preparation for the Russian-American contacts,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov informed reporters in Moscow on Monday.
There’s little expectation Putin will comply with a deal. The Russian chief has already signaled he is not going to compromise, final week making hardline remarks the place he repeated his calls for that Ukraine withdraw from territory he claims and saying it’s “pointless” to barter with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin attends talks in Bishkek on Nov. 26, 2025; and White Home particular envoy Steve Witkoff on the White Home in Washington, on Aug. 26, 2025.
Alexander Kazakov and Mandel Ngan/POOL/AFP through Getty Photographs
Putin on Monday claimed with out proof that Russian forces had taken management of two Ukrainian cities the place intense combating has been taking place for weeks within the japanese a part of the nation, a transfer supposed maybe to burnish the notion of Russia’s main place on the battlefield.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was in a roundabout way concerned with the talks in Florida, met on Monday with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. He landed on Tuesday in Dublin, the place he is anticipated to fulfill with Taoiseach Micheál Martin, the Irish prime minister.
“Our engagement right now was substantive and vital — above all, centered on the steps that deliver a simply peace nearer,” he mentioned on social media after his assembly with Macron. “Now actions are wanted that can actually change the course of the conflict and lead it to a simply peace, to an actual finish — the type we’d like. And it’s important that each one companions who can genuinely assist accomplish that.”
As Zelenskyy pushed for European unity in opposition to Russian aggression, members of his delegation in Florida have been sending updates on what was being mentioned. He mentioned on Monday that there have been nonetheless a number of “robust points” to work by way of within the negotiations, however didn’t elaborate. Ukraine’s potential relinquishment of a few of its territory to Russia was considered a part of the talks.
Taoiseach Micheal Martin, heart left, speaks to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and first woman Olena Zelenska as they arrive at Dublin Airport for his go to to Eire, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025.
Clodagh Kilcoyne/AP
Zelenskyy on Monday additionally mentioned he, Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had once more been briefed by Witkoff and the pinnacle of the Kyiv delegation, Rustem Umerov, the secretary of Ukraine’s Nationwide Safety and Protection Council.
“Over two very productive days in the US, we held many hours of conferences and negotiations,” Umerov mentioned in a separate social media replace on Monday. “We achieved vital progress, though some points nonetheless require additional refinement.”
Talking on the White Home on Monday, Leavitt didn’t element what the U.S. anticipated to occur throughout the negotiations in Moscow, as a substitute deferring to those that could be on the assembly.
“We have put factors on paper. These factors have been very a lot refined,” she mentioned. “However as for the main points, I’ll let the negotiators negotiate. However we do really feel fairly good, and we’re hopeful that this work can lastly come to an finish.”
ABC Information’ Emily Chang and Patrick Reevell contributed to this report.
