ISW: Russia Is Preparing To Reject The Peace Plan And Wants To Withhold Details Of The Whitkoff-Putin Meeting
- 2.12.2025, 10:10
Analysts drew attention to the statement by Kremlin Speaker Peskov.
The Kremlin is preparing the ground to leave behind the scenes and out of public discussion the results of a new round of U.S.-Russian contacts on December 2 - the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Steve Whitkoff in Moscow. Russia's goal in doing so is probably an attempt to hide the fact that Russia is likely to reject the peace proposal the U.S. and Ukraine have been working on, suggests the Institute for the Study of War.
The ISW analysts drew attention to a statement by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who said Russia has no intention of negotiating "in megaphone mode" or "through the media" - commenting on the wop Peskov said the Kremlin would publish a video recording of the start of the meeting between Putin and Whitkoff on Dec. 2, but it was "too early to talk about any public statements afterward," the Kremlin spokesman said.
In addition, First Deputy Chairman of the Russian State Duma's Foreign Affairs Committee Alexei Chepa said Dec. 1 that Moscow would like the U.S. delegation to "confirm the principled positions" that the United States and Russia allegedly reached during a summit in Alaska in August 2025 - although no public agreements were discussed then, as ISW recalled.
In the context of this rhetoric by Russian high-ranking officials, ISW also quoted the deputy head of the Duma Defense Committee, Alexei Zhuravlev. On Dec. 1, he said that "the right way to negotiate is between Russia and the United States, and then put Europe and Ukraine before the fact, and they will not go anywhere: they will sit down at the table and sign whatever we say."
As ISW recalls, Kremlin officials and Russian "war correspondents" have consistently rejected both the original 28-point peace plan and its subsequent updated versions since the plan was first reported in mid-November 2025. Moscow makes it clear that these plans do not take into account all of Russia's maximalist military demands. At the same time, the Kremlin is using the lack of clarity about the Alaska summit to obscure the fact that it is Moscow, not Kiev, that is obstructing the negotiation process by sticking to its original military demands.
The Institute for the Study of War predicts that the Kremlin is likely to try to repeat this approach for the upcoming meeting between Whitkoff and Putin on December 2. After all, Moscow is already preparing arrangements to keep the details of the talks from the public - probably because Russia will reject the terms of the plan. Therefore, the Kremlin is likely seeking to avoid Russia being perceived as an obstacle to ending the war against Ukraine, especially if Moscow rejects the peace agreement outright, ISW notes. It also reminds that Russia has previously rejected several ceasefire agreements proposed by the US, to which Ukraine had tentatively agreed.
The meeting between Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and Steve Whitkoff, special envoy of US President Donald Trump, will take place on Tuesday, December 2. According to Dmitry Peskov, Putin and Whitkoff will meet in the afternoon.