Media: US seeks Putin’s answer as Trump advisers push Ukraine peace plan in Paris

President Donald Trump’s advisers, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, met in Paris on January 8 with Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev to discuss the United States’ proposed plan for peace in Ukraine, a source familiar with the matter told reporters.

Following an agreement with Ukraine on nearly all aspects of the plan, the White House is seeking a clear response from Russian President Vladimir Putin, Caliber.Az reports, citing Axios.

So far, Putin has given no public indication that he is prepared to accept or even seriously consider the deal that the U.S. and Ukraine have been negotiating.

French newspaper Le Monde first reported that Dmitriev had been seen near the U.S. embassy in Paris. Both the White House and Dmitriev’s spokesperson declined to comment.

The meeting with Putin’s envoy came after two days of discussions between Witkoff and Kushner and senior Ukrainian and European officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the leaders of the United Kingdom, France, and Germany.

The talks focused on two main sticking points: security guarantees for Ukraine and potential territorial concessions in the eastern Donbas region.

Zelenskyy told reporters that the U.S.-Ukraine security guarantees agreement is “essentially ready for finalisation at the highest level” with Trump. “Complex issues from the basic framework for ending the war were addressed, and the Ukrainian side presented possible options for finalising this document,” he said, referring to the negotiations on territory.

Zelenskyy added that Ukraine had been informed that the U.S. would engage with Russia on the current proposal. “It is necessary that pressure on Russia continues to increase at the same intensity as the work of our negotiating teams,” he said.

Ukrainian officials told Axios there is a possibility Zelenskyy could travel to the United States next week to meet Trump and finalise the security guarantees deal, or the two leaders could meet during the World Economic Forum in Davos.