Putin wants to end war in Ukraine and "return to normal life" – Trump
US President Donald Trump called the meeting between his advisers Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in Moscow "very good" and said there had been progress towards resolving the war in Ukraine.
He said this at a briefing at the White House on 3 December, according to Censor.NET.
Talks in Moscow
He was asked for his opinion on the fact that the Russians are unlikely to compromise on a peace agreement.
"I don’t know what the Kremlin is going to do, but I can tell you that Witkoff and Kushner had a very successful meeting with Putin. They think he would like to end the war. You know, that was their impression. I think he’d like to get back to normal life. I think he’d like to trade with the United States. Quite frankly, instead of losing thousands of soldiers every week. They would like to make a deal. We’ll see what happens," Trump said.
On ending the war
At the same time, Trump is not yet ready to predict the outcome of Putin’s meeting with Witkoff and Kushner: "I can’t tell you what will come out of that meeting, because it takes two to tango."
He also repeated his claim that Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine would not have happened during his term in office, again referring to what he called "rigged elections" in the United States:
"This is a war that should never have started. If I had been president, this war would never have happened."
Negotiations between the US and Russia
- Earlier, Censor.NET reported that the negotiations of the US delegates in Moscow on 2 December ended without compromise, and the meeting with Trump will not take place.
- During the negotiations, Witkoff and Kushner presented the parameters of the updated peace plan after discussions with Ukraine in Florida on 30 November.
- According to Axios, after Moscow, they were supposed to travel to Europe for a meeting with President Zelenskyy.
- However, as Euronews reported, on 3 December, the meeting between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Special Representative Steve Witkoff, and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner was cancelled.
