US and Russian demands to give Moscow swathes of Ukrainian territory are “the most difficult” part of peace talks, President Zelensky revealed yesterday.
He was speaking after marathon meetings with France’s President Macron, Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US envoy Steve Witkoff – who is due to meet Putin in Moscow today.
Zelensky said: “The question of land and territory is probably the most difficult.”
It cames as pictures of bomb-blitzed Kostyantynivka showed civilian homes destroyed by Russia.
Russia seized twice as much land in November compared to October, according to Ukrainain war trakcers.
But the US based Study of War Institute insisted: “Russian battlefield victory is neither imminent nor inevitable.”
Macron predicted Russia would struggle to bankroll its Ukraine slaughter due to a crack down on its shadow fleet tankers that evade western sanctions.
He said: “We know that 40 per cent of the war effort in Russia is financed through the shadow fleet.
“In the weeks to come the pressure on the Russian economy and the capacity of Russia to finance the war effort will drastically change.”
A Russian drafted peace deal which the US delivered to Kyiv last month had demanded Ukraine surrender land that Russia has been unable to capture by force.
It also gave Russia occuppied Crimea and the parts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia currently under Russian control.
Zelensky said yesterday that a new plan “looks better” after two weeks of frantic talks between US and Ukrainian negotiators in Geneva and later in Florida.
But Zelensky also hinted at the rift between his “European friends” and what he called “the American side in Florida”.
Zelensky hailed talks with Britain, France and eight EU allies as “very productive”.
He described a phone call with Witkoff yesterday as an “important briefing”.
Witkoff, a real estate baron, met Putin’s envoy Kirrill Dimitriev in Florida before meeting Ukrianian officials.
Witkoff, who was caught coaching a Russian official on how to play President Trump, is due to meet Putin in Moscow with Donald Trump’s son-in-law and envoy Jared Kushner today.
Their meeting follows bombshell claims that Trump’s business allies are already in talks with Russia to buy cut billion dollar deals in the event of a peace deal.
The Wall Street Journal reported that a Trump campaign donor Gentry Beach was in talks to buy part of a Russian Arctic gas project.
Another Trump donor, Stephen Lynch, reportedly paid $600,000 in a bid to secure a US Treasury license to buy the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia.
Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk said of US peace efforts: “We know this is not about peace. It’s about business.”
