War

One thousand three hundred seventy-sixth day. Zelensky is expecting a “new round of pressure” from the United States. The head of the office of the President of Ukraine has not yet been appointed (but there are candidates)

Since February 24, 2022, Meduza has been broadcasting live about the Russian-Ukrainian war. We publish your letters in our daily materials because we are sure that we need to continue talking about the war. What do you think about the peace plan proposed by the US? Is this encouragement of Russian aggression or an opportunity to end the almost four-year war? Should Ukraine agree to these terms before the situation gets worse—or reject and continue the war in the hope of achieving a stronger negotiating position in the future? The feedback form is at the end of this article. You can read the previous day's review here .

Ukraine

The Ukrainian delegation went to the United States to “continue dialogue” on the peace plan. The White House wants to finally close all issues

Vladimir Zelensky next week will face a “new round of pressure” from the United States, which is seeking to push the Ukrainian president to conclude an agreement to end the war,writes The Washington Post.

On November 30, the Ukrainian delegation traveled to the United States to “continue the dialogue” begun in Geneva, during which representatives of both sides discussed the peace plan (and reduced it from 28 to 22 points, according to Trump). The new meeting, according to Axios, will take place at Witkoff's Shell Bay Golf Club in Miami. On the American side, it will be attended by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. According to a senior US official, at this meeting the White House wants to “remove differences” on the last two issues - territories and security guarantees. “Ukrainians know what we expect from them,” he added.

After this meeting, Steve Witkoff will go to Moscow to Vladimir Putin to convey to him a “direct offer” from the United States, as The Telegraph wrote . According to Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov, Trump’s special envoy’s visit will take place before December 4–5, after which Putin is scheduled to travel to India. Axios writes that Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner will present Putin with the final document prepared following the meeting with the Ukrainians.

The Ukrainian delegation that went to the United States included nine people, including the head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Andrei Gnatov, Foreign Minister Andrei Sibiga and the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate Kirill Budanov. The delegation, instead of the resigned Andriy Ermak, was headed by the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Rustem Umerov - and this step caused internal criticism in Ukraine, since Umerov is considered involved in a corruption case, writes The Washington Post.

As an example of such criticism, the newspaper cites the words of Vladimir Ariev, a people's deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine from Petro Poroshenko's European Solidarity party. “I don’t see any conclusions drawn by Zelensky. He dismissed one person involved in a corruption scandal and appointed another as head of the negotiating team,” Aryev wrote in a message to The Washington Post. In his opinion, Zelensky needs to adapt “to the real changes that the public demands.”

Zelensky, meanwhile, began to reassemble the team - and appointed Oksana Markarova, who was Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States from 2021 until the summer of 2025, as his adviser on the restoration of Ukraine and investment. According to Zelensky, in addition to the “fundamental goal of protecting independence,” Ukraine also has a long-term goal - to recover from hostilities and restore normal economic development. Markarova will be involved in planning the restoration of Ukraine together with her partners.

The head of the president's office has not yet been appointed. Axios journalist Barak Ravid, citing Ukrainian sources, named the current Minister of Defense (and former Prime Minister) Denis Shmygal, as well as the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate Kirill Budanov and First Deputy Prime Minister Mikhail Fedorov as candidates for this post. According to the journalist, Fedorov may also take the post of Defense Minister during the reshuffle. According to Zelensky’s communications adviser Dmitry Lytvyn, the president is “still deciding on the format of further work” of his office and “wants to evaluate the ideas presented.”

War through the eyes of Meduza readers

How we choose letters

Meduza's readers live in different countries and have different attitudes towards the war. We publish your letters to see this event through your eyes. Our editors try to present all points of view, even if they do not coincide with the editorial position. However, in accordance with the Meduza code, we do not publish messages that contain “hate speech,” justify the murder of civilians, or express direct support for an aggressive war.

Anton (Berlin) . I believe that Ukraine has the right to fight with whomever it wants and as much as it wants - but with its own money, not ours. If she fights with our [European] money, then we should determine the parameters of the war, not she. As they say, he who pays calls the tune.

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