Putin threatens Europe before five-hour meeting with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner

Vladimir Putin assured that Russia is ready to fight a war with Europe in case it is attacked. The Russian leader made these statements during his participation in an investment forum in Moscow. There, he also accused European leaders of trying to sabotage the peace negotiations underway with the United States to end the war in Ukraine.

"We do not plan to fight Europe, I've already said it a hundred times. But if Europe wants to fight us, and starts it, then we're ready right now," Putin said at the forum.

The statement came hours before he took part in a meeting with a U.S. delegation, including Steve Witkoff, the U.S. Special Envoy for Peace Missions, and Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump's husband and a key player in Donald Trump's foreign policy during his first term.

The meeting between Putin, Witkoff and Kushner lasted approximately five hours, during which they discussed the conditions necessary to end the war that began in February 2022.

Yuri Ushakov, the Kremlin's top foreign policy advisor, stated that they are willing to accept some ideas from the Trump administration, while remarking that there were problems with some points: "We could agree on some things, and the president confirmed this to his interlocutors. Other things provoked criticism, and the president also made no secret of our critical and even negative attitude toward a number of proposals. But the main thing is that a very useful discussion took place."

In addition, Ushakov noted that they had not reached any specific compromises, nor did they agree on a new summit between Putin and Trump.

The U.S.-led peace talks saw significant progress in the last days of November. Indeed, Ukraine accepted the key terms of the latest White House proposal to end the conflict. It includes a clear division of territories and security guarantees for Ukraine, though key details remain to be confirmed.