Ukraine Peace Talks Stalled: Zelensky Seeks European Support Amid Deadlock

Key Takeaways:

• Zelensky seeks European backing after Florida talks fail to resolve all issues.
• Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, travels to Moscow to meet with Putin.
• US peace plan faces Ukrainian opposition due to proposed territorial concessions.
• Moscow insists on achieving its objectives in Ukraine, including control of Donbas.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that thorny issues remained unresolved after Florida talks between the United States and Ukraine. He and other Ukrainian officials are heading to Europe to rally support from allies, while U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy headed to Moscow to brief the Kremlin.

U.S. and Ukrainian officials met on Monday at a golf resort built by real estate magnate Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy, in a diplomatic effort aimed at ending Europe's deadliest conflict in generations.

Zelenskyy arrived in Paris seeking the support of French President Emmanuel Macron and is scheduled to travel to Ireland on Tuesday. Ukraine's defense minister was scheduled to attend a NATO meeting in Brussels. Meanwhile, Witkoff has departed for Moscow, where he is scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.

Ukraine and its European allies have been urging the United States to revise its proposed U.S. peace plan -- which initially supports Russia's core demands: Ukraine give up more territory, downsize its army, abandon joining NATO, and ban Western troops from being stationed.

Ukraine describes these terms as tantamount to surrender and would ultimately give Russia an opening to complete the conquest.

Rubio says 'Progress Made'

"There are still some tricky issues that need to be resolved," Zelenskyy wrote on the X platform. He will hold intensive meetings in Europe to discuss the results of the Florida talks, "This will be a very substantive day."

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosted the talks at Witkoff's Shell Bay club near Miami. He said last Sunday that Washington is "sober about how difficult this is, but also remain optimistic especially given that we've made progress."

"There's more work to be done, this is very delicate," Rubio said. "There's a lot of moving parts, and obviously there's another side (Russia) that has to be involved... and that process will continue later this week when Mr. Witkoff travels to Moscow."

For Ukraine, the current negotiations have reached a critical juncture. Ukraine is suffering losses on the front lines, while also facing its biggest corruption scandal since the start of the conflict.

Zelenskyy's chief of staff (who has also led the Ukrainian delegation in peace talks) resigned last Friday, after anti-corruption investigators searched his residence. Two cabinet ministers have been fired, and one of Zelenskyy's former business partners has been listed as a suspect.

Trump, who has promised to quickly end the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, has expressed disappointment with the delay in reaching a peace agreement.

"Ukraine has some tricky little problems," Trump told reporters on Air Force One last Sunday, referring to the corruption scandals. He reiterated that both Russia and Ukraine want to end the conflict and said there is a high probability of reaching an agreement.

Will Putin Cooperate?

This week, all eyes are on Russia's reaction. So far, Putin and Kremlin officials have responded cautiously to the revised peace plan, suggesting that while Russia is ready to negotiate, the conflict will not necessarily end anytime soon.

"In general, we agree that this (referring to Trump's ceasefire proposal) could be the basis for a future agreement," Putin said during a visit to Kyrgyzstan last week. He added that the United States seems to be "considering" Russia's position on a peaceful settlement, and that Moscow is also ready to hold "serious discussions" with Witkoff.

But Putin also praised Russia's progress in Ukraine and told reporters that fighting will only stop when Ukrainian forces withdraw from their positions in key areas.

Putin said that if they do not, Russian forces will achieve their goals by force, which appears to suggest that Moscow is unwilling to abandon one of its key objectives of fully controlling the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine.

Analysts at the U.S. "Institute for the Study of War" noted in an analysis last Sunday that Russian military bloggers appear to believe that Putin will not compromise on demands related to Ukrainian territory.

They wrote: "There are still many voices in the Russian information space who believe that the Kremlin may reject a ceasefire or any version of the peace plan proposed by the United States, because the Kremlin believes that these efforts are irrelevant and will hinder Russia's goals in Ukraine and even globally."

Russia Continues Bombing Ukrainian Cities

So far, Russia has shown no signs of abandoning its maximal demands, with its forces continuing to advance slowly along the 1,200-kilometer (750-mile) front line.

Russia said on Monday that its forces had captured another settlement in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, Klynove. Reuters was unable to independently verify the situation on the ground. Russia has long said it is on the verge of capturing the destroyed city of Pokrovsk, which would be its biggest gain in nearly two years.

Meanwhile, Russia launches long-range strikes on Ukrainian cities every night, mainly targeting energy infrastructure. As the conflict enters its fourth winter, Ukrainians are frequently plunged into darkness and cold.

A Russian night attack on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro killed at least 3 people and injured 15 others.

On the other hand, Ukraine has been launching long-range strikes directly targeting Russian oil exports. The Kremlin on Monday condemned a Ukrainian attack on a Russian oil export terminal serving a Kazakh oil pipeline, as well as two oil tankers in the Black Sea.