The Kremlin commented on the results of a meeting between Vladimir Putin and US President's special representative Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, which took place in Moscow on November 12. The Russian side announced its intention to continue negotiations on Ukraine, but again put forward demands regarding NATO expansion and European security.
This was reported by Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, according to TASS. Details of the talks were also provided by Reuters.
Ushakov described the meeting as useful and said that direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, which resumed this week after a nine-month break, will continue.
At the same time, the Russian side reiterated its security demands. According to Ushakov, Moscow made it clear to the American representatives that it considers further NATO expansion unacceptable.
The Kremlin also advocates discussing a new European security architecture and expects European countries to participate in relevant consultations.
Thus, the Russian side continues to link the settlement of the war against Ukraine with broader issues of relations between Russia and Western states.
Ushakov said that Putin intends to continue discussing the Ukrainian issue directly with US President Donald Trump. According to him, such a possibility is being considered as part of the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in China in late November.
A separate topic of the talks was Russia's proposal to organize a joint Russian-Ukrainian humanitarian mission in Kostyantynivka, Donetsk region.
According to the Kremlin, the American side supported this initiative. However, there is no independent confirmation of the coordination of such an operation with Ukraine yet.
The Russian side proposed using a mechanism that, according to it, was previously used in organizing humanitarian events in occupied Oleshky, Kherson region.
No specific agreements on a ceasefire or changes in the parties' positions on territorial issues were announced following the meeting.
In turn, Witkoff said after the talks that a new round of trilateral consultations between Ukraine, the US and Russia had been agreed. He said European representatives should join the next stage of negotiations.
Kushner called the talks substantive and detailed.
The Moscow meeting followed two days of negotiations between delegations from Ukraine, the US and Russia in Abu Dhabi on November 10–11. At that time, the parties agreed on preparing a large-scale prisoner-of-war exchange, but did not achieve any publicly confirmed breakthrough on major political issues.
One of the main obstacles remains Russia's territorial demands. Moscow insists on transferring Ukrainian territories that Russian troops do not control. Ukraine rejects such conditions and demands security guarantees that rule out a repeat attack.
After the meeting with Putin, Witkoff and Kushner are to hold consultations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Dublin, where a summit of the European Political Community is being held.
