РУССКИЙ
23:28 12.11.2026 •
Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov
Photo: RIA Novosti
Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov: Good evening, friends.
All of you are certainly aware that President of Russia Vladimir Putin received US President’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner today. The conversation was very substantive, constructive, frank and productive – just like all their previous conversations.
At the outset of the meeting, the Russian President made several important statements in the presence of the press, setting the tone for the discussion that followed. Notably, the American negotiators actively supported the Russian President’s proposal to apply the approach used in the successful humanitarian operation in Aleshki to another city beyond the line of contact, namely, Konstantinovka.
The President specifically drew attention to the fact that the Ukrainian side has raised the issue of so-called “grey zones”. The humanitarian initiative we have proposed will allow everyone to see who actually controls these areas, based on the situation on the ground rather than on Ukrainian maps, those of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It has been agreed that detailed discussions of this new humanitarian initiative will begin with US representatives. We are ready to begin demining operations immediately. Naturally, once preparations for the humanitarian operation to assist the residents of Konstantinovka are complete, we will invite journalists from Ukraine, European countries and the United States to observe the operation.
The President of Russia has once again supported the American side’s proposal to move towards resolving security issues for both Russia and Ukraine as part of efforts to shape a future post-conflict system of European security.
It is clear that the current system is not working – that is obvious to everyone. We hope that representatives of European countries will also support efforts to agree on the parameters of a new, long-term architecture of indivisible security and peace, a process we are ready to begin immediately, in tandem with our American counterparts. In this context, the President recalled our vision of the key pillars of the architecture of indivisible security, which we presented back in 2021 in the form of draft agreements with the United States and NATO on security guarantees.
These include the non-expansion of the NATO bloc, the non-deployment of threatening weapons systems near Russia’s borders, and a return to the configuration of the alliance’s forces as it stood at the time the Russia-NATO Founding Act was signed. To this list, which is not limited to the points I have outlined, we would like to add certain new considerations of our own, based on the lessons that we cannot – simply cannot – fail to draw from the present situation, in which the collective West has taken up arms against us, making no secret of its desire to save the Kiev regime and to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia.
For our part, the position of the Europeans has been comprehensively outlined. They are striving by every means possible to join the negotiations, but, as our President has said, they must decide whether they want peace or the continuation of the war. So far, all their practical actions point precisely to the latter. In particular, attention was drawn to the fact that the deployment of foreign contingents from the coalition of the willing on Ukrainian territory after the end of the conflict is being actively promoted. Yet that is precisely the recipe for an endless war. Incidentally, in his remarks, Vladimir Putin very accurately and vividly characterised the current course pursued by the Europeans and, as you know, cited the old joke about the money in the bedside drawer. That joke illustrates how Europe is attempting to send the question of peace or the continuation of war going round in circles.
In the course of today’s negotiations, the behaviour of the head of the Kiev regime was also discussed – namely, the “friendly greetings” he publicly extends to the President of the United States. It was also noted that in Kiev they do not want to end the war, because they would immediately have to call general elections, and no one wants to lose power. Our President did not overlook the fact that the current American administration is working very insistently and persistently to achieve a genuinely lasting settlement of the Ukrainian conflict.
As was noted, President Donald Trump is personally committed to resolving this issue. Naturally, the full range of matters related to its regulation will be discussed further at the planned meeting with him on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Shenzhen.
Both we and the American side see great value in the upcoming trilateral summit in Shenzhen, which our Chinese hosts are organising. Work is currently underway to develop the substance of this meeting. We hope that this first-ever meeting in such a format will have a stabilising effect on the overall international situation.
During the talks, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner gave a detailed account of their assessments of the trilateral contacts that took place in Abu Dhabi on November 10–11. Both we and the Americans regard those discussions and contacts as constructive and productive. It was agreed that this negotiation process and this track of talks will continue. In particular, support was expressed for an initiative discussed in Abu Dhabi to carry out another prisoner exchange, which would likely be the largest to date. The parameters of this exchange are currently being finalised.
It is worth noting that since 2025, there have been 35 prisoner exchanges, involving approximately 5,000 individuals on each side. We hope that the Ukrainian side will take a serious approach to implementing the new agreement reached in principle in Abu Dhabi.
Following these in-depth discussions at the Kremlin, the American negotiators have departed for Dublin, where they are due to meet with Zelensky and representatives of various European capitals. We hope that the signals from Moscow will be conveyed to them with the utmost care.
We remain in contact with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, and we will discuss the state of affairs further ahead of the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in China.
That is all, I believe. Thank you, colleagues.
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