US Says It Can Advance Contested Ukraine Peace Plan as Trump's Envoy Meets Putin

The United States on Monday said it remained optimistic about advancing a contentious proposal to end the war in Ukraine as President Donald Trump's personal envoy travelled to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Steve Witkoff, a longtime business associate of the president who has been acting as a private emissary, was due in Moscow on Tuesday. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters: "I think the administration feels very optimistic" about the mediation effort.

Diplomatic push and reactions

Washington's initial blueprint — reportedly a 28-point proposal — prompted concern among European leaders and Kyiv because it was drafted without detailed participation from Ukraine or many European capitals. The original outline would have required Kyiv to withdraw from some areas of eastern Donetsk and would have effectively left the Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea regions under Russian control as a practical matter. After talks in Geneva, the United States revised the plan, but officials have not publicly released the full updated details.

French President Emmanuel Macron and other European leaders have urged that any territorial decisions must be led by Ukraine. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned the planned Putin–Witkoff meeting risked placing "all the pressure" on the weaker side. Macron described the moment as potentially decisive for peace in Ukraine and for security in Europe and welcomed newly announced U.S. sanctions on Russia's energy sector as a potential "game changer."

Ukraine's position

Ukraine's lead negotiator, Rustem Umerov, said two days of talks in Florida with Witkoff and U.S. officials yielded "significant progress," while cautioned that difficult issues remain and more work is needed. President Volodymyr Zelensky flew to Ireland for an in-person briefing from Umerov after talks in Paris with Macron, and officials said Zelensky also held calls with other European leaders, including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

"We are expecting a conversation with the president of the United States on key issues that are quite challenging," Zelensky said, adding that recent Russian missile and drone strikes aim to break Ukrainians' resolve. "This is serious pressure, not only psychological but also physical pressure on our population."

The situation in Kyiv has also been complicated by a recent corruption scandal within the presidential circle that led to the dismissal last week of Andriy Yermak, Zelensky's top negotiator and chief of staff.

Battlefield developments

On the ground, Russia reported capturing Pokrovsk, a logistics hub Ukraine had defended, and analysts said Russian forces made their largest advance since November 2024 during the previous month. A missile strike in the central city of Dnipro killed four people and wounded nearly two dozen others, regional officials said. Analysis from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), working with the Critical Threats Project, estimated that by the end of November Russian forces controlled, wholly or partially, about 19.3 percent of Ukrainian territory.

Next steps

The diplomatic flurry continued with phone calls between Macron and U.S. President Donald Trump on next steps in the mediation, with Macron stressing the central importance of security guarantees for Ukraine. Kyiv insists that any deal must not reward aggression and that Russia must be held accountable for its invasion.

What remains clear: negotiations are active but fragile. Kyiv demands meaningful security guarantees and sovereignty protections, European allies are wary of a deal imposed without Ukraine's full consent, and battlefield developments continue to shape the leverage of all parties.