Only two points on the most recent 27-point peace plan (27PPP) Moscow meeting on December 3 remain unresolved, special envoy to Ukraine retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg said on December 7.

President Donald Trump's outgoing Ukraine envoy said a deal to end the Ukraine war was "really close" after a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the US negotiating team in Moscow on December 3.

The two main outstanding issues, Kellogg said, were on territory - primarily the future of the Donbas - and the future of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe's largest, which is under Russian control.

"If we get those two issues settled, I think the rest of the things will work out fairly well," Kellogg said on December 6 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, California, Reuters reports. "We're almost there."

Russia claims the whole of Donbas, though Ukraine is still in control of at least 5,000 square km of the area. The region is of key military importance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), which has built a formidable “Fortress Line” in the region that military analysts say Russia will struggle to capture without taking very large losses.

Zelenskiy also had a long “substantive” conversation with Witkoff and Kushner on December 7, but no details were released.

Zelenskiy has said that handing over the rest of Donetsk would be illegal without a referendum which suggested holding in 2024 to give him authority to give away land, but seems to have dropped that idea in the meantime.

Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s top foreign policy advisor, was quoted by Russian media on December 7 as saying that the United States would have to "make serious, I would say, radical changes to their papers" on Ukraine. He did not clarify what changes Moscow wanted Washington to make.

The US envoys presented the original 28-point peace plan (28PPP) to the Kremlin in Moscow. But according to a long interview Putin gave to Indian journalists on December 4 last week during a state visit there, the list has been cut to 27-points and split into four blocks. The issue of sovereignty over the occupied regions remains at the top of the agenda and the main sticking point.

The Kremlin said there has to be radical changes to some of the US proposals. Trump, who says he wants to be remembered as a "peacemaker", says that ending Europe's deadliest conflict since WWII has so far been the most elusive foreign policy aim of his presidency, Reuters reports.

The progress comes after Ukrainian officials held talks with US President Donald Trump's envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, in Miami over the weekend on December 5-6, which were described as “constructive.”

Witkoff and Kushner debriefed the Ukrainian delegation, led by Ukrainian Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council Rustem Umerov, on Putin’s demands made during a Moscow meeting and were urging both Moscow and Kyiv to make compromises on the territories issue and meet in the middle, according to reports.

The US and Ukraine have both agreed that any lasting peace deal "depends on Russia’s readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace," according to a readout from a December 5 meeting of delegations from both countries.

"Both parties agreed that real progress toward any agreement depends on Russia’s readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace, including steps toward de-escalation and cessation of killings," a readout posted on social media by Witkoff said.

"American and Ukrainian parties underscored that an end to the war and credible steps toward ceasefire and de-escalation are necessary to prevent renewed aggression and to enable Ukraine’s comprehensive redevelopment plan, designed to make the nation stronger and more prosperous than before the war," the readout said.

 

The Miami meeting was the sixth meeting between the two sides in two weeks, as the peace talks gather momentum, but still have a long way to go. Even if the US reaches an agreement with Putin there is no guarantee that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will accept the terms. Giving away territory has been a red line for Zelenskiy, who will need a real security deal from his Western allies before he will even consider concessions. So far, both the White House and the EU have refused to offer those guarantees.

The Miami statement gave little away on the details of the contents of the Moscow meeting. The Ukrainian side reaffirmed that any settlement must “preserve the country’s independence and sovereignty,” which suggests the question of sovereignty remains the main sticking point. Umerov also said a deal also needs to ensure the safety of its population, and support a stable democratic future – diplomatic code for the need for real security guarantees from the US and Europe.

“Both parties agreed that real progress toward any agreement depends on Russia’s readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace,” the statement said, adding that discussions focused on steps toward de-escalation and cessation of killings.

The US and Ukrainian delegations also reviewed a proposed post-war “prosperity agenda,” including US–Ukraine economic cooperation, reconstruction, and long-term recovery planning. Point 14 on the US-sponsored 28-point peace plan (28PPP) calls for a $100bn US-Ukraine reconstruction fund, seeded by money from Russia's $300bn of frozen reserves.

A comprehensive redevelopment initiative was discussed, aimed at making Ukraine “stronger and more prosperous than before the war.” In addition to ceasefire conditions, the parties dove into post-war security guarantees and deterrence mechanisms to prevent renewed aggression. The US statement highlighted the need for a comprehensive security framework, a key concern for Kyiv as it continues to resist calls for premature concessions. The US has prepared a draft security agreement that appears to include Article 5-like security guarantees for Ukraine, including a US military response should Russia renew hostilities.

In his Indian interview on December 4, Putin said that the plan had been split into four blocks that largely contain the same points, but the total number has been reduced to 27 points. He also said that the Kremlin is willing to agree to many of the points on the plan, but there are still some on which remain “unacceptable” to the Kremlin.

Nevertheless, Putin remains upbeat on the progress and said each point was discussed in great detail, which is why the meeting took five hours, and talks were moving forward.