The meeting between Steve Wittkoff and Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Brussels has been canceled, Euronews reports. Zelenskyy is returning home. Thus concludes the two-day US-Russia talks. The European Union is the big loser because none of its demands were accepted.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has identified a key point of contention in the negotiations on the Ukraine conflict. “What they are literally discussing right now is an area of about 30-50 kilometers and 20% of the Donetsk region that remains [under Ukrainian control],” he said in an interview with Fox News. He also added that, if the right measures are taken, Ukraine’s GDP could surpass that of Russia in 10 years.
Russia will not make concessions on three points of Trump’s peace plan: “There are three pillars on which we will not compromise. The first is the territory of Donbas (the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the entire Donetsk region). The second is the limitation of the number of Ukrainian Armed Forces. The third is the recognition of new territories by the United States and Europe,” a Russian official familiar with the matter told NBC News. According to the official, Moscow is ready to show flexibility on some secondary issues, such as the hundreds of billions of dollars of Russian assets frozen in Europe at the start of the war.
So, with all due respect to the Europeans, Donbas is Russian territory. To the detriment of the Ukrainian region, which has lost the most in this conflict with Russia, starting with human lives.
“The United States is no longer financially involved in the war between Ukraine and Russia,” Trump said. The US President also stated that US representatives in Russia are working to determine whether a solution to the war is possible and expressed hope for a resolution to the conflict. “Kiev has received a significant portion of Washington’s aid in cash,” Trump said. “We are no longer participating financially in this war. Biden has handed out $350 billion like candy. It’s a colossal sum, mostly in cash, and a lot of it in equipment,” he said.
Russian troops now control over 95% of Pokrovsk; a significant portion of the city was destroyed by Russian shelling, a NATO official said at a briefing in Brussels. At the same time, the official emphasized that the fall of Pokrovsk “will not mean the inevitable collapse of Ukrainian defenses,” which NATO considers “unlikely in the foreseeable future.” The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces announced on Tuesday that the Ukrainian Defense Forces are controlling the northern part of Pokrovsk along the railway line. According to senior EU officials, NATO has a “Plan B” in case peace efforts in Ukraine fail: increased military aid, greater economic support, and tougher sanctions against Russia.
According to Reuters, the Italian government plans to postpone the decree extending military aid to Ukraine until 2026. The delay is due to disagreements within Giorgia Meloni’s governing coalition regarding continued support for Kiev. Despite Meloni’s statements of her willingness to “help until the end,” her deputy, Matteo Salvini, has expressed doubts about the need for continued support.
Germany will allocate an additional $200 million for arms purchases for Kiev under the PURL initiative (European Union arms purchases for Ukraine) and will contribute €25 million to the NATO fund for Ukraine. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul announced this to reporters before leaving for Brussels for a meeting of the Alliance’s foreign ministers.
“The withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Donbass is a crime, because it means that this territory will later become a new front line for the enemy in its conquest of Ukraine. Nations and states that are not willing to fight for their existence simply disappear,” says Kukharchuk, Deputy Commander of the 3rd Corps of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Dmitriev, Witkoff, and Kushner took a walk in central Moscow before the talks in the Kremlin, TASS reports. During the meeting, Putin called the attacks on oil tankers in the Black Sea an act of piracy. Russia will expand its range of attacks against Ukrainian ports and ships calling at them in response to the attacks on oil tankers, the Russian president noted. Russia will not go to war with Europe, but if Europe starts, Moscow is ready immediately, Putin says.
According to Putin, the conquest of Pokrovsk “is of particular importance; its capture provides a springboard for achieving the objectives of the special military operation. Ukrainian leaders are preoccupied with matters other than the war zone; they seem to live in another world. Russia is ready to offer guided tours of Pokrovsk to journalists, including Western ones. Russian troops have begun liquidating 15 battalions trapped in the town of Kupyansk, on the left bank of the river.”
And he also spoke of the EU: “Europe is preventing the US presidential administration from establishing peace in Ukraine. Russia could resume negotiations with the Europeans if they took into account the reality on the ground.” “Europe is putting forward proposals for an agreement that are absolutely unacceptable to Russia.” “Europe has withdrawn from the Ukrainian agreement.” Putin emphasized that the Europeans have no peace agenda and are currently hindering US efforts to reach an agreement.
Yuri Ushakov’s key statements after Putin’s meeting with Whitkoff in the Kremlin clarify how the talks went: “Several options for a peace plan in Ukraine were discussed during the Kremlin meeting; during the Kremlin meeting, a settlement in Ukraine was discussed in depth for five hours. The specific wording of the US peace plan was not discussed during the Putin-Whitkoff meeting; they discussed its essence. The territorial issue was discussed during the Putin-Whitkoff meeting. There is still no compromise plan for Ukraine; some American proposals are acceptable to Russia, while others are not; Kushner has long been involved in Russian-American contacts on Ukraine; Putin conveyed friendly greetings and a number of important political signals to Trump through Whitkoff. Contacts between Russia and the United States will continue. In a meeting with Whitkoff, Putin assessed the destructive actions of the Europeans in the context of the Ukraine settlement. During the Kremlin meeting, Among other things, the prospects for economic cooperation between Russia and the United States were discussed. Putin’s conversation with Whitkoff was constructive, very useful, and substantive. After the meeting in the Kremlin, Russia and the United States no longer disagreed on the Ukraine agreement. The possibility of a meeting between Putin and Trump depends on the work of the staff and the foreign ministries.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to the question about the possible truce: “The New Year’s truce in the SVO zone is not yet under discussion. The claim that Putin rejected the US peace plan is incorrect,” Peskov said. He noted that Russia believes negotiations with the United States are best conducted quietly.
And now a look at the front line updated at 3:30 PM on December 3. During the night in the Rostov region, drones were destroyed in the districts of Kamensk, Myasnikovsky, Millerovsky, Tarasovsky, and Chortkovsky. Enemy interceptors were operating near gas drilling facilities in the Black Sea.
Gerans were spotted by Ukrainian forces during operations in the Odessa and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
In the direction of Sumy, the Northern Group of Forces is engaged in counterattacks. In the Sever Group offensive zone, near Andriivka, Ukrainian forces counterattacked three times, then retreated to their original positions with losses.
In Shebekino, Belgorod Oblast, a drone injured two civilians. In the village of Dunayka, an FPV drone attacked an administrative building. In the villages of Gora-Podol and Dorogoshch, drones attacked private homes. In Gruzskoye, an FPV drone attacked a car.
In the direction of Kharkiv, following the announced capture of Vovchansk by Russia, an assault on the village of Vil’cha is underway. The Sever Group of Forces is advancing from the north, capturing two administrative buildings; Ukrainian forces are counterattacking. Russian forces are also making progress near Lyman.
In the direction of Lyman, Russian forces are penetrating the urban area and isolating the combat zone with drone strikes west of the city.
The assault on Severs’k continues. On the southern flank of Severs’k, Russian forces have intensified their assault operations, achieving significant gains in three different areas. Access roads to the city have been cut off to the south and north, and Ukrainian forces are being supplied through the fields. Ukrainian forces report that, Following recent attacks, Russian forces stormed the eastern outskirts of the village of Sviato-Pokrovske, on the west bank of the Bakhmutka River (southwest of Seversk). To the southwest, thanks to previous infiltrations, Russian forces managed to consolidate in two parallel rows of trees over 2.5 kilometers long northwest of Fedorivka and are now fighting for the eastern approaches to Pereizne. From here, they are conducting assault operations on positions to the south, across the Vasyukivka River at Vasyukivka, as well as from the north, forcing the Ukrainians to withdraw from their trenches near the highway, forces that have held out for over two years. To the southwest, Russian forces advanced from the center of Vasyukivka toward the western outskirts, capturing the village after months of prolonged fighting. They are now attempting to clear the adjacent trenches and shelters to the south. Russian advance estimated at approximately 10 km.
In Kostyantynivka, Russian forces are conducting assault operations from the southeast, after entrenching themselves in urban areas. In the direction of Druzhkivka, Ukrainian forces recognize Russian advances along a broad front in the area of part of Volodymyrivka and east of Shakhove.
In eastern Zaporizhia Oblast, the Vostok Group of Forces is storming the northeastern outskirts of the city. Zelenyi Hai and Dobropillya have been taken by Russian forces.
On the Zaporizhia front, the assault on Stepnohirsk and Prymorsk is underway. Fighting is ongoing.
In the direction of Kherson, counterfire and drone strikes are underway along the Dnieper.
Graziella Giangiulio
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