Russia says Washington has handed over the key parameters of a Russo-Ukrainian peace plan discussed last week in Geneva, even as President Vladimir Putin insists it is “legally impossible” to negotiate with Kyiv right now.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russian media on Friday that “the main parameters were delivered,” referring to the draft plan coordinated by US and Ukrainian negotiators.
He said Moscow expects to review the details with US officials next week in the Russian capital.
Speaking to RIA Novosti, he said that even though Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “is facing questions over legitimacy and reluctance to hold elections in Ukraine,” everyone [in the Kremlin] wants to “bring it all onto a peaceful track.”
What’s in the plan
The US shared a draft peace plan with Ukraine in mid-November. The original document had 28 points and called for territorial concessions, limits on Ukraine’s military and a permanent ban on joining NATO – key Kremlin demands.
After a meeting in Geneva – where EU, US and Ukrainian officials scrambled to rewrite the plan and make the terms more favorable to Kyiv – the draft was reduced to 22 points.
Ukraine’s delegation said both sides reached “a common understanding on key conditions” and suggested President Volodymyr Zelensky could visit the US in November to push talks forward.
But Trump said he would meet Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin only when a ceasefire deal is close to being finalized.
He sent his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, to Moscow for talks with Putin, and directed US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll to keep in contact with Kyiv.
Andriy Yermak, head of the Presidential Office, said Ukrainian and American teams will continue negotiating this week to lock in progress made in Geneva.
Putin has said Moscow is open to treating the US plan as a “basis for future arrangements,” but the Kremlin refuses to consider it a draft peace deal.
Putin shuts door on talks – for now
A day earlier, on Thursday, Putin claimed peace talks with Ukraine are “legally impossible,” saying that while Russia “eventually” wants an agreement, the current situation does not allow for one.
“Of course, we want to eventually reach an agreement with Ukraine, but it is simply practically impossible now. It is legally impossible,” he told reporters in Kyrgyzstan on Nov. 27.
Putin also sidelined Kyiv’s role, saying Moscow is primarily seeking international recognition of its control over occupied Ukrainian territories.
“Whoever can, whoever wants – let them negotiate. We need our decisions to be recognized by the main international players,” he said. “We need recognition, but not from Ukraine today.”
The Russian leader, who staged illegal referendums to annex occupied Ukrainian regions – including areas Moscow does not fully control – repeated his claim that any Ukrainian effort to liberate those territories would amount to an attack on Russia.
He also said Russia is ready “in principle” to fight “to the last Ukrainian.”
Putin again questioned the legitimacy of Ukraine’s wartime leadership, arguing that “signing documents with the Ukrainian leadership is pointless” and calling Kyiv’s decision not to hold elections under martial law “a fundamental strategic mistake.”
He insisted that only Ukraine’s parliament, not the president, can extend its powers during wartime.
Kyiv: No territory will be handed to Russia
Zelensky’s top aide and key negotiator Andriy Yermak, meanwhile, said that Ukraine will not cede any of its territory to Russia under a future peace deal.
In a new interview with The Atlantic, he outlined Kyiv’s red lines ahead of the next round of talks.
“Not a single sane person today would sign a document to give up territory,” he said. Zelensky, he added, “will not sign away territory” under any circumstances.
“The constitution prohibits this. Nobody can do that unless they want to go against the Ukrainian constitution and the Ukrainian people.”
Yermak said Kyiv is prepared only to discuss where the current front line should be formally demarcated.
“All we can realistically talk about right now is really to define the line of contact,” he said.
Negotiators have recently trimmed back several major Russian demands, but the issue of land remains the central obstacle.