Russia comes under pressure as Ukraine peace talks move to Moscow

All eyes are on Russia this week as talks on a peace plan to end the war in Ukraine move into high gear as they move to Moscow.

U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is scheduled to visit Russia on Monday and meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss a U.S.-backed 19-point peace plan.

Ukraine has tentatively supported the fledgling peace plan, putting the ball back in Russia’s court as to whether it can cooperate on a framework agreement.

The latest plan is a revised version of the original 28-point plan reported several weeks ago, which was developed by the United States and Russia without Ukraine’s involvement and favored Russia.

Russia will likely want to have a say in the amendments, following a flurry of diplomacy and consultations between U.S. and Ukrainian officials last week, including talks in Florida on Sunday.

But while it remains a big unknown whether Putin will act proactively on a new peace plan, Russia feels it has an advantage on the battlefield and has U.S. President Donald Trump’s ear on the outline of a future peace deal.

The Kremlin confirmed that Mr. Witkov and Mr. Putin will meet on Tuesday.

President Putin and Kremlin officials have so far reacted cautiously to the revised peace plan, suggesting that although Russia is open to dialogue, the war in Ukraine may not necessarily end quickly.

“In general, we agree that this can be the basis for future agreements,” Putin said during a visit to Kyrgyzstan. He said the United States “seems to be taking into account” Russia’s position on the peace deal, adding that Moscow was ready for “serious talks” with Mr. Witkov.

But Putin also praised Russia’s advance into Ukraine and told reporters that fighting in Ukraine would only stop if Ukrainian forces withdrew from positions in key regions.

Otherwise, the Russian military will achieve its objectives by force, Putin said, seeming to suggest that the Kremlin has no intention of abandoning one of its main goals: complete control of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.

Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War noted in an analysis on Sunday that Russian military bloggers appeared skeptical that Putin would compromise on his territorial claims to Ukraine.

“Voices in the Russian information space continue to argue that the Kremlin is likely to reject a ceasefire or any iteration of the peace plan proposed by the United States, as the Kremlin views these efforts as trivial and impeding Russia’s goals in Ukraine and the world,” ISW analysts noted on Sunday.

The recent diplomatic battle over a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia came after some twists and turns over the White House’s position on how the war should end and what concessions a ceasefire would require.

President Trump has wavered over his support for Ukraine, at times suggesting support for Russia’s demand that Ukraine cede occupied territory to Moscow as part of a peace deal. He then backtracked and said Kiev’s forces could take back all land, throwing Kiev’s position in the peace deal into turmoil.

After speaking with Ukrainian officials in Florida on Sunday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the process towards a peace deal was “delicate” and that any agreement would need to incorporate Russia’s position.

He said the four-hour meeting, which also included Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and a Ukrainian delegation led by National Security and Defense Council Secretary Ustem Rumelov, was productive, but more work remains to be done.

“There’s still a lot of work left to do, but today was another very productive and informative session, and I think we made further progress,” Rubio told reporters after the meeting.