putin Threatens Escalation as US-Brokered Ukraine Peace Talks Face Obstacles
Moscow, december 3, 2025 – Russian President Vladimir Putin signaled a hardening of his position in the ongoing conflict with Ukraine, threatening increased attacks on Ukrainian ports and vessels, including tankers supporting Kyiv, following reported attacks on ships carrying Russian oil off the coast of Turkiye. The proclamation came as US envoys continue efforts to mediate a peace agreement, but Putin accused Ukraine’s European allies of attempting to ”block the entire peace process” with “absolutely unacceptable” demands.
“We can clearly see that all these changes are aimed at only one thing: to block the entire peace process altogether, to make such demands which are absolutely unacceptable to Russia,” Putin stated.
The escalating rhetoric follows a flurry of diplomatic activity, including a meeting at the Kremlin on December 2 between Putin, economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev, and aide Yury Ushakov, with US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, son-in-law of former US President Donald trump.
Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha responded to Putin’s comments, asserting that the Russian leader has no intention of ending the war. “Yesterday, he said he was prepared to fight through the winter. Today, he threatens sea ports and freedom of navigation,” Sybiha wrote on social media.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during a visit to Ireland, emphasized the need for a “dignified peace” and expressed concern that Kyiv’s allies might become “tired” of supporting Ukraine. “it’s the goal of Russia to withdraw the interest of America from this situation,” Zelenskyy explained at an event in Dublin.
Trump acknowledged the difficulty of the negotiations, stating at a cabinet meeting in Washington, DC, “Our people are over in Russia right now to see if we can get it settled. Not an easy situation. What a mess,” adding that the war is causing “tens of thousands of casualties each month.”
Witkoff and Kushner are potentially scheduled to meet with a Ukrainian delegation as early as Wednesday in Brussels, according to a senior figure in Kyiv.
On the ground,Russia claimed to have seized Pokrovsk,a city in Ukraine’s Donbas region,which Kyiv has denied,stating Moscow aims to project an image of inevitable advance. Putin suggested on Tuesday that pokrovsk would allow Russian forces to “easily advance in any direction that the General Staff deems most promising.”
According to pro-Ukrainian maps cited by Reuters, Moscow’s forces now control more than 19 percent of Ukraine, a one percentage point increase from last year, and have advanced more quickly in 2025 than at any time since 2022.
previous US peace proposals reportedly included Russian demands for a cap on the size of the Ukrainian army, control over the entirety of the Donbas region, and recognition of Moscow’s presence in Zaporizhia and Kherson. Zelenskyy has characterized such concessions as a “capitulation,” reiterating that protecting Ukraine’s territorial integrity remains the “biggest challenge” in the ongoing negotiations.
