WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump expressed cautious optimism Wednesday about ending Russia’s nearly four-year war in Ukraine, claiming his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, is eager for a deal following marathon talks in Moscow. The remarks, delivered amid ongoing battlefield escalations, highlighted a potential thaw in U.S.-Russia relations but drew sharp skepticism from European allies and Ukrainian officials, who warned against concessions that could undermine Kyiv’s sovereignty.
Speaking to reporters in the White House Rose Garden during a brief question-and-answer session, Trump recounted a late-night briefing from his special envoy, Steve Witkoff—a longtime real estate associate—and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who serves as an informal Middle East and Ukraine adviser. “He would like to end the war. That’s what their impression was… Their impression was very strongly that he’d like to make a deal,” Trump said, referring to Putin. The president, who has made brokering peace in Ukraine a cornerstone of his foreign policy since returning to office in January 2025, added that the five-hour Kremlin session on Tuesday was “reasonably good.” “I can tell you that they had a reasonably good meeting with President Putin. We’re going to find out,” he said, invoking his signature phrase: “It does take two to tango.”
Trump’s comments came hours after Witkoff and Kushner departed Moscow’s Red Square under a blanket of early winter snow, having strolled past Lenin’s Mausoleum before entering the Kremlin for discussions that stretched past midnight local time. The envoys presented Putin with a revised U.S. peace framework, whittled down from an initial 28-point draft leaked last month to about 20 points after consultations with Ukrainian and European counterparts in Geneva and Miami. The original plan, which drew accusations of being “Kremlin-friendly,” included provisions for Russian control over annexed territories in eastern Ukraine, limits on Kyiv’s military capabilities, and a freeze on Ukraine’s NATO aspirations—demands that echoed Moscow’s red lines since its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The updated version, according to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, incorporates “refinements” to ensure Ukraine’s “long-term prosperity,” including safeguards for its frozen Russian assets—estimated at $300 billion globally—to fund reconstruction, with the U.S. claiming a 50% stake in profits from a proposed investment fund. Rubio, who joined Witkoff and Kushner for pre-Moscow talks with Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov in Florida over the weekend, described those discussions as “very productive” but acknowledged “tough issues” remain, particularly around territorial integrity and security guarantees.
From the Russian side, the tone was measured but positive. Presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, who sat in on the talks alongside Kremlin economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev, told reporters outside the Kremlin that the “mood is positive” and the Americans are “ready to make every effort to achieve a long-term settlement which, in fact, meets our goals.” Ushakov emphasized that Russia is now conducting all Ukraine negotiations “exclusively with the United States,” bypassing direct European involvement, which he said has been “refusing all contact” despite Moscow’s openness. He revealed that several settlement options were floated, including on Ukraine’s NATO membership—a non-starter for Putin—but no “compromise version has yet been found.” “There is still a lot of work to be done,” Ushakov added, crediting recent Russian military advances—gains of about 1% in territorial control this year—for fostering a “more adequate” Western perception of the conflict.
The Moscow session marked the latest in a flurry of diplomacy under Trump’s aggressive timeline. Just two weeks prior, the president set a Thanksgiving deadline for a preliminary agreement, a move that rattled Kyiv and Brussels by pressuring Ukraine to concede on sovereignty issues. Earlier meetings in Anchorage, Alaska, in August saw Trump and Putin publicly pledge to mediate directly, with the U.S. leader boasting he could resolve the war “in 24 hours” if re-elected—a promise that has since evolved into shuttle diplomacy involving his inner circle. Witkoff, a billionaire developer who has known Trump since the 1980s, was appointed special envoy in March 2025, leveraging his business ties in Gulf states for backchannel funding pledges to Ukraine’s rebuild. Kushner, drawing on his Abraham Accords experience, has focused on economic incentives, proposing a U.S.-led consortium to exploit Ukraine’s mineral resources in exchange for peace.
Yet, the optimism clashed with grim realities on the ground. Hours after Trump’s White House remarks, Russian forces unleashed a barrage of airstrikes across Ukraine, targeting civilian infrastructure in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Odesa—killing at least 12 and wounding dozens, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking from Dublin where he met with Irish leaders, called the attacks “a cynical reminder” of Moscow’s duplicity, vowing that any deal must be “fair and open, with no games behind Ukraine’s back.” Zelenskyy’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, confirmed an invitation for Ukrainian officials to Washington “in the near future” for follow-up talks but stressed Kyiv’s red lines: full territorial restoration, NATO pathways, and no limits on its armed forces.
European leaders, gathering for a NATO summit in Brussels, voiced guarded support for Trump’s efforts while urging vigilance. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte declared Trump “the only person who can break the deadlock,” citing his personal rapport with Putin but warning that “Putin believes he can outlast us—we are not going anywhere.” UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper accused Putin of “feigning interest” to buy time, urging him to “end the bluster and bloodshed” and back a “just and lasting peace.” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz echoed concerns over U.S. unilateralism, noting in a Bundestag address that Europe’s exclusion risks a “flawed bargain” favoring Moscow, potentially destabilizing the continent’s energy and security architecture.
Analysts see the talks as a high-stakes gamble. “If Trump presses Putin hard, he might fold on the fighting—but not on his core demands,” said Andrei Fedorov, a former Russian deputy foreign minister now in exile. The war, Europe’s deadliest since World War II, has claimed over 500,000 lives, displaced millions, and strained global food and energy supplies. Russia’s economy, buoyed by oil revenues and alliances with China and North Korea, shows resilience despite Western sanctions, while Ukraine grapples with war fatigue and a corruption scandal that ousted its top negotiator last month.
Trump reiterated a familiar refrain: “The war would never have started if I were president” in 2022, blaming his predecessor Joe Biden’s “weakness.” He hinted at next steps, including a potential U.S.-Ukraine summit in Miami and further envoy trips to Moscow. “What comes out of that meeting? I can’t tell you,” Trump said of the Kremlin huddle. But with Russian advances in Donetsk and Ukrainian drone strikes on Black Sea tankers escalating tensions, the path to peace remains as foggy as Moscow’s winter skies.
As the White House briefed Congress behind closed doors—where Republicans praised the “bold diplomacy” and Democrats decried the “Russia-first tilt”—global markets reacted warily. Oil prices dipped 2% on hopes of de-escalation, while wheat futures rose amid fears of prolonged Black Sea disruptions. Zelenskyy, in a late-night Telegram post, thanked Trump for the “positive signals” but affirmed: “Peace must be dignified, or it’s surrender.” With Putin silent publicly but signaling via Ushakov that Russia seeks “international recognition” of its gains, the tango Trump invoked may yet stumble into a broader geopolitical dance—one where the music of compromise could turn to discord at any misstep.
