The Geneva draft of peace plan was refined, Zelenskyi says after Ukraine, U.S. officials meet in Florida. Russia is likely preparing to reject a peace proposal, ISW says. Russia is making gains in Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia regions, DeepState says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said on Tuesday that he had heard reports from members of the Ukrainian delegation that participated in the talks with U.S. officials in Florida on Sunday. They discussed what \u201cwas not possible to say on the phone,\u201d he said in a post to X. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRustem Umerov and participants in the negotiations in Florida reported on the key points raised by the American side in the dialogue. The work was based on the Geneva document, and that document has been refined,\u201d Zelenskyi said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He thanked head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lieutenant General Andriy Hnatov, for briefing the U.S. partners in detail on the actual battlefield situation. Ukraine\u2019s intelligence officials discussed with the U.S. delegation how the frontline situation could develop after a ceasefire, how Ukraine will be protected from Russian airstrikes and how violations of the deal will be handled. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur diplomats are actively working with all partners to ensure that European countries and other participants in the Coalition of the Willing are meaningfully involved in developing decisions,\u201d Zelenskyi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Monday, he met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. The talks were followed by a series of phone calls with European leaders and U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff to coordinate before Witkoff\u2019s Tuesday meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Zelenskyi said he spoke to his team about these meetings. \u201cThe Russians have already launched new disinformation campaigns in view of preparations for their upcoming meetings with the American side,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zelenskyi said he had instructed officials from the Ukrainian delegation \u201cto continue the most constructive work possible\u201d with the U.S. team and European partners. \u201cUkrainian intelligence will provide partners with all available information regarding Russia\u2019s true intentions and its attempts to use diplomatic engagement as cover to weaken sanctions and block important collective European decisions,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUkraine approaches all diplomatic efforts with utmost seriousness \u2014 we are committed to achieving a real peace and guaranteed security. This is exactly the level of commitment that must be compelled from the Russian side, and this task can be accomplished only together with our partners,\u201d Zelenskyi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Secretary of Ukraine\u2019s National Security and Defense Council, Rustem Umerov who chairs the delegation will stay in contact with the U.S. team to plan future meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi and First Lady Olena Zelenska are on their first official visit to Ireland on Tuesday. Speaking at a news conference alongside French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday, Zelenskyi said he will meet with the Ukrainian delegation in Ireland on Tuesday following the talks in Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Axios said on Sunday, citing Ukrainian officials that Umerov was expected to meet Zelenskyi in Paris on Monday and give him a more detailed report about the negotiations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zelenskyi said on X Sunday after the meeting that Umerov reported information from the talks. \u201cIt is important that the dialogue is constructive, and that all issues at the meetings were discussed openly and in a way that ensures Ukraine\u2019s sovereignty and national interests,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Kremlin is setting conditions to refrain from publicly discussing the outcomes of the December 2 US-Russian meeting, possibly in order to obfuscate Russia\u2019s likely rejection of the US-Ukrainian peace proposal, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in an update on Monday. The paragraphs below are quoted from the report. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Peskov responded to a question about points in the latest US-Ukrainian peace proposal, stating that Russia does not intend to conduct negotiations through a \u201cmegaphone\u201d or \u201cthrough the media.\u201d Peskov stated that the Kremlin will release footage from the start of the Putin-Witkoff meeting on December 2, but that it is too early to talk about any public statements afterwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russian State Duma International Affairs Committee First Deputy Head Alexei Chepa stated on December 1 that he would like the US delegation to \u201creaffirm the fundamental nature\u201d of the positions that the United States and Russia allegedly reached during the US-Russia Alaska summit in August 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Duma Defense Committee Deputy Chairperson Alexei Zhuravlev claimed on December 1 that the \u201cright\u201d negotiations are between Russia and the United States, who will present a \u201cfait accompli\u201d to Europe and Ukraine such that they will have \u201cno choice but to\u2026sign whatever [the United States and Russia] say.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
High-ranking Kremlin officials and Russian milbloggers have been consistently rejecting the 28-point peace plan and its subsequent iterations since it was first reported in mid-November 2025 because the proposed plans did not concede to all of Russia\u2019s maximalist war demands. The Kremlin has been exploiting the lack of clarity about the Alaska summit to conceal the way the Kremlin \u2014 not Ukraine \u2014 is impeding the negotiations process by sticking to its original war demands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Kremlin will likely try to replicate this approach with the upcoming US-Russia meeting on December 2 and is setting conditions to conceal the details of the talks from the public, likely because Russia will reject the terms of the plan. The Kremlin likely seeks to avoid framing Russia as an impediment to ending the war in Ukraine if Moscow rejects the peace deal that the United States will present to Russia, and that Ukraine agreed to. Russia previously rejected several US-proposed ceasefires that Ukraine agreed to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In other reports, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Tuesday. Ahead of the meeting, Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov said the head of the Russian General Staff Army General Valery Gerasimov told Putin on Sunday evening that the country\u2019s forces captured the Ukrainian towns of Pokrovsk, in Donetsk region, and Vovchansk, in Kharkiv region. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUnits of the Defence Forces of Ukraine continue defensive operations in challenging sectors of the frontline, in particular in Pokrovsk, Vovchansk, and Kupiansk,\u201d the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said Tuesday. There was no confirmation of the cities\u2019 capture from ISW or Ukrainian open-source mapping project DeepState. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at Ukraine\u2019s National Security and Defense Council, Lieutenant Andriy Kovalenko said on Telegram Monday that Russia will mount pressure in the battlefield in the coming weeks, while also making \u201cloud statements\u201d \u201cexclusively for the Western audience\u201d to increase the stakes in diplomacy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs of now, part of Vovchansk is controlled by Ukraine\u2019s defense forces. Also, the enemy did not seize Kupyansk, but lied about it instead. Heavy battles continue in the front line, the enemy is throwing more forces into the battle,\u201d Kovalenko added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russian forces have occupied the village of Kozatske in Donetsk region and have advanced in Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad as well as near Kamyanske in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukrainian open-source mapping project DeepState said Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russia seized 505 square kilometers of land in November, DeepState said Monday, adding that Russian forces made 40 per cent of all gains near Hulyaipole in Zaporizhzhia region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"