Putin Not Budging: ‘Frank’ Talks With Witkoff Confirm Territory Is A Red Line

Russia’s President Putin held a late-night meeting Thursday at the Kremlin with the US delegation led by White House special envoy Steve Witkoff, just hours ahead of planned trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi Friday aimed at pushing the Trump-backed peace framework to end the war in Ukraine.

Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov soon after the four-hour discussion called the engagement “substantive” and “frank” – and mentioned it was conducted with an unusually high level of mutual trust, which typically suggests hard truths were exchanged behind closed doors.

Witkoff was again accompanied by Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, with the pair arriving in Moscow from the World Economic Forum in Davos, at which Witkoff publicly stated his view that Russia and Ukraine may be edging closer to a deal:

“The president has talked about a tariff-free zone from Ukraine that I think would be game-changing,” Witkoff said at the Ukrainian Breakfast on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss Alps resort town.

“I think we made a lot of progress. I think in the beginning of this process there was a little bit of confusion,” he said.

Still, following the late night meeting the Kremlin said the “territorial issue” remains unresolved, as the Ukrainian side is still pushing for a freeze of the front lines, while Moscow seeks a final political settlement which falls nothing short of full recognition of its hold over the four eastern territories.

Ushakov’s further conclusion was that while Moscow and Washington are both “sincerely interested” in a political and diplomatic resolution, until such a deal is reached, Russia will continue pursuing its objectives on the battlefield as it maintains the strategic upper hand.

“Russia would continue to consistently pursue the objectives … on the battlefield, where the Russian armed forces hold the strategic initiative,” Ushakov said.

He stressed that any illusion of compromise has limits, explaining that without a settlement on territorial control, “there can be no long-term agreement” – which of course sends the strong signal that Moscow is not budging, at least publicly, on its demand to retain control of the Donbas region.

The Kremlin aide also mentioned that discussions touched on Trump’s invitation for Russia to join his proposed “Board of Peace” initiative, as well as rising tensions related to the US seeking control over Greenland. Moscow has seen itself on the sidelines regarding this, with President Putin having said this week that Denmark and the US will have to sort it out.

Ushakov reiterated that Russia would be willing to contribute the $1 billion required for permanent membership in the ‘board of peace’ but has come up with a creative condition: the funds must come from Russian assets currently frozen in the US following the invasion of Ukraine. Frozen assets which remain after that could be focused on post-war reconstruction for Ukraine, the Kremlin aide indicated.

Important Russia 🇷🇺–US 🇺🇸discussion in the Kremlin today. President Putin received Peacemakers Steven Witkoff, Jared Kushner and Josh Gruenbaum. President aide Yury Ushakov and myself also participated. 🕊️ pic.twitter.com/I3E4Op5V9i

— Kirill Dmitriev (@kadmitriev) January 23, 2026

Overall, as expected this exchange with the US delegation didn’t produce much, except to make clear each’s position and to at least keep bilateral US-Russia relations on a positive, communicative track. But it really does underscore that after a year of the Trump administration pressing hard for a peace deal, the warring sides are in fact no closer to the goal line.