Putin says US understands complexity of Ukrainian issue

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday (November 26) that he believes the United States understands the complexity of reaching a peace settlement in Ukraine.

AI Brief

Putin confirmed resumed contacts with US officials on a possible Ukraine peace deal during talks in Kyrgyzstan.
Trump's envoy will visit Moscow next week to discuss a US-backed plan that alarms Kyiv and Europe for favoring Russia.
Zelenskiy says Ukraine is ready to advance talks under the framework but insists on including European allies.

Putin, who is on an official state visit to Kyrgyzstan, was speaking at a bilateral meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko.

The two leaders held talks in Bishkek on the eve of a summit of the member countries of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

The Russian president did not give any further details on resumed contacts and talks with U.S. officials aimed at reaching a deal to end the war in Ukraine.

Earlier on Wednesday the Kremlin said President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Moscow next week with other senior U.S. officials for talks with Russian officials about a possible peace plan for Ukraine.

Trump is leading efforts to secure an agreement to end a war that has raged for nearly four years since Russian President Vladimir Putin sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022.

Details of a U.S.-backed peace plan that emerged last week alarmed Ukrainian and European officials who feared it heavily favoured Moscow by bowing to key Russian demands - barring Ukraine's NATO entry, enshrining Moscow's control of a fifth of Ukraine and limiting the size of Ukraine's army.

But, after U.S. and Ukrainian officials sought to narrow gaps over the plan, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that Kyiv was ready to advance a U.S.-backed framework for ending the war and discuss disputed points with Trump in talks that he said should include European allies.

Trump said last week Zelenskiy could either agree to the U.S. plan or "fight his little heart out," but has since backed away from a hard deadline.