US President Donald Trump's special envoy, Jared Kushner, has questioned Russian President Vladimir Putin's assessment that Russian forces could take control of all of Donbas within months.
According to a report by The New York Times, Putin's claim was made during a meeting he held in Moscow on September 5 with Kushner and another US envoy, Steve Witkoff. The meeting, which lasted more than three hours, was part of Washington's efforts to revive negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
During the talks in the Kremlin, Putin appeared confident that Russian forces could achieve their military objectives in Donbas within months. According to The New York Times, Kushner disputed this assessment, reminding the Russian president that a similar prediction had been made earlier.
"With all due respect, you told us the same thing a year ago. What are the odds that we'll come back here a year from now and you'll tell us the same thing again? Maybe we shouldn't waste a year?" Kushner was quoted as saying.
Putin has repeatedly demanded that Ukraine withdraw from the territories of Donbas that are not yet controlled by Russia. The territorial issue remains one of the main obstacles in diplomatic efforts to reach an agreement.
During the meeting in Moscow, Putin also reportedly discussed Russia's territorial objectives and the situation on the battlefield. After the meeting, the US side said that concrete plans for further steps towards ending the war had been discussed, while no new agreement was announced.
Kushner and Witkoff then traveled to Kiev, where they held meetings with Ukrainian officials as part of Washington's effort to revive the negotiations. This was Kushner and Witkoff's first visit to Ukraine in their roles as US envoys for the negotiations.
Later, speaking at the Yalta European Strategy conference in Kiev, Kushner confirmed that Putin had outlined the territorial line that Moscow wants to reach. He acknowledged that Ukraine is not currently ready to withdraw to that line.
"If Ukraine wanted to pull back to that line, then, obviously, we would have the rest of the deal agreed upon and prepared. Ukraine does not want that at the moment," Kushner said.
The US envoy said that Washington is seeking a "creative solution" to the territorial issue, with the aim of overcoming this point of disagreement and paving the way for negotiations.
The status of the Ukrainian-controlled territories of Donbas remains one of the most difficult issues in the US-led efforts to revive negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. So far, recent US-Russian and US-Ukrainian meetings have not produced a final agreement, while the parties continue to have different positions on the territory and terms of a peace agreement.
