Putin suggests Ukraine peace deal still a way off

Russia’s president praises Trump’s efforts but won't accept parts of the U.S. proposal.

- By Dasua LITVINOVA

Russian President Vladimir Putin says some proposals in a U.S. plan to end the war in Ukraine are unacceptable to the Kremlin, indicating in comments published Thursday that any deal is still some way off.

President Trump has set in motion the most intense diplomatic push to stop the fighting since Russia launched the full-scale invasion of its neighbor nearly four years ago. But the effort has once again run into demands that are hard to reconcile, especially over whether Ukraine must give up land to Russia and how it can be kept safe from any future aggression by Moscow.

Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and son-in-law Jared Kushner are expected to meet later Thursday with the Ukrainian delegation led by Rustem Umeroy following the Americans’ discussions with Putin at the Kremlin.

The meeting is scheduled to take place at the Shell Bay Club, a golf property developed by Witkoff in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

Putin said his five-hour talks Tuesday with Witkoff and Kushner were “necessary” and “useful,” but also “difficult work,” and some proposals were unacceptable.

Speaking to the India Today television channel before he landed Thursday in New Delhi for a state visit, Putin said the American proposals discussed at the Kremlin meeting were based on earlier discussions between Russia and the U.S., including his meeting with Trump in Alaska in August, but also included new elements.