Putin-US envoy talks conclude: Latest reactions (Updates, VIDEO)
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has concluded talks with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Moscow. The Kremlin described the meeting as constructive and confirmed that diplomatic efforts to resolve the Ukraine conflict will continue.
The talks followed two days of US-mediated negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi, which focused on a potential settlement of the conflict and the future European security architecture.
Senior officials, including Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, and Witkoff, have been speaking to reporters following the meeting.
RT brings you the key statements and latest developments.
“Constructive” talks
Putin’s negotiations with the US envoys were
“substantive, constructive, frank and useful,”
Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told reporters following the meeting.
He said the discussions followed a similar pattern to previous exchanges between the Russian president and American negotiators.
Witkoff hails progress in peace efforts
The US special envoy welcomed the resumption of trilateral negotiations between Russia, Ukraine, and the US, pointing to plans for another round of talks.
“I think progress was made today, yes,”
Witkoff told reporters before departing Moscow following his meeting with Putin.
He noted that few had expected the trilateral format to resume in Abu Dhabi, but the negotiations did restart and another meeting has already been scheduled.
“This is what President Trump wants to see,”
he added.
Key positions on European security
Putin reaffirmed Moscow’s proposals for a new European security architecture, including an end to NATO expansion, restrictions on the deployment of weapons systems threatening Russia near its borders, and a return to the military bloc’s force configuration at the time of the 1997 Russia-NATO Founding Act, Ushakov said.
Moscow considers the existing European security system ineffective and is ready to begin talks with Washington on a new long-term arrangement, which it hopes European countries will also support, he added.
European governments have been seeking to join the negotiations but should decide whether they want peace or a continuation of the conflict, according to the Kremlin aide, who said that their actions so far suggest the latter.
Foreign troops in Ukraine would mean ‘endless war’
Plans by the European
“coalition of the willing”
to deploy foreign troops in Ukraine after the conflict would risk prolonging the fighting indefinitely, Ushakov said.
“This is a recipe for an endless war,”
he said.
Zelensky unwilling to end conflict
Putin and the US envoys also discussed Vladimir Zelensky’s recent remarks about President Donald Trump.
According to Ushakov, Kiev is reluctant to end the conflict because a settlement would require new elections, potentially threatening Zelensky’s hold on power.
Major prisoner exchange
Moscow and Washington backed a proposal discussed during the Abu Dhabi negotiations for what could become a major prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine.
The terms are still being negotiated, Ushakov said, expressing hope that Kiev would honor the agreement reached in principle.
Russia and Ukraine have conducted 35 prisoner exchanges since 2025, involving approximately 5,000 people from each side, according to Ushakov.