Putin: Meeting with Trump’s Envoy and Son-in-Law Was "Very Useful"

"Trump Wants to End the War for Humanitarian and Other Reasons"

Russian President Vladimir Putin described his meeting with Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner as "very useful."

Vladimir Putin, President of Russia. Photo by AP

According to TASS, President Putin stated this during an interview with local media outlet India Today TV on December 4 (local time), during his visit to India, noting, "We held talks for five hours."

When asked whether the draft ceasefire proposal consisting of 28 provisions prepared by President Trump was still valid, President Putin replied, "Those are exactly the points under discussion." He explained, "They simply divided these 28 or 27 items into four packages," adding, "They proposed to discuss these four packages with us, but in essence, the content is the same." He further noted that while there were provisions Russia was ready to discuss immediately, "there were also provisions we could not agree to," emphasizing that it was "a very difficult task."

It is known that during the meeting between President Putin and the U.S. delegation in Moscow on December 2, discussions were based on a revised proposal, which had been reduced from the original 28 provisions to 20 items after incorporating Ukraine's feedback. President Putin said, "President Trump wants a swift end to the conflict in Ukraine for a variety of reasons, including humanitarian ones," and added, "We also want to end the war that the West has waged against us using Ukraine as a proxy." He clarified that Russia does not deny Ukraine's right to ensure its own security, but stressed, "If that comes at Russia's expense, it is unacceptable."

President Putin also said that he had proposed to Ukraine the withdrawal of troops from Donbas, but Ukraine refused, stating, "They chose the path of armed conflict and brought this situation upon themselves." TASS added that Putin emphasized Russia would liberate Donbas and Novorossiya by any means necessary. Novorossiya, meaning "New Russia," is a term used by Russia to refer to the southeastern Black Sea coastal region of Ukraine.