Russian President Vladimir Putin, third right, Russian Presidential foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov, fourth right, and Russian Direct Investment Fund CEO Special Presidential Representative for Investment and Economic Cooperation with Foreign Countries Kirill Dmitriev, right, attend the talks with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, second left, and Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, third, at the Senate Palace of the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025.
| Photo Credit: AP
Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Kyiv’s European allies on Tuesday (December 2, 2025) of sabotaging U.S.-led efforts to end the nearly four-year-old war in Ukraine.
“They don’t have a peace agenda, they’re on the side of the war,” Mr. Putin said after speaking to an investment forum and before he met in the Kremlin with a U.S. delegation led by envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Mr. Putin’s accusations appeared to be his latest attempt to sow dissension between Mr. Trump and European countries and set the stage for exempting Moscow from blame for any lack of progress.
“They don’t have a peace agenda, they’re on the side of the war,” Mr. Putin said of the Europeans in comments to reporters.
He accused Europe of amending peace proposals with “demands that are absolutely unacceptable to Russia,” thus “blocking the entire peace process,” only to blame Russia for it.
“That’s their goal,” Mr. Putin said.
He reiterated his long-held position that Russia has no plans to attack Europe — a concern regularly voiced by some European countries.
“But if Europe suddenly wants to wage a war with us and starts it, we are ready right away. There can be no doubt about that,” Mr. Putin said.
Russia started the war in 2022 with its full-scale invasion of a sovereign European country, and European governments have since spent billions of dollars to support Ukraine financially and militarily, to wean themselves from energy dependence on Russia and to strengthen their own militaries to deter Moscow from seizing more territory by force.
They worry that if Russia gets what it wants in Ukraine, it will have free rein to threaten or disrupt other European countries, which already have faced incursions from Russian drones and fighter jets, and an alleged widespread Russian sabotage campaign.
Speaking with Mr. Putin via a translator before the talks, Mr. Witkoff said he and Mr. Kushner had taken “a beautiful walk” around Moscow and described it as a “magnificent city.” Coinciding with Mr. Witkoff’s trip, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy went to Ireland, continuing his visits to European countries that have helped sustain his country’s fight against Russia’s invasion.
Published – December 02, 2025 10:55 pm IST
