Putin: Europe has distanced itself from talks and is "hindering Trump's efforts"

Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin has accused Europe of "cutting off" contact with Russia and claimed that it is also "impeding" the United States and the "peace plan" of US President Donald Trump.

As reported by Russian media outlet Interfax, Putin said on 2 December that Europeans are "offended" that they have been "supposedly excluded from negotiations".

"But I want to point out that no one excluded them – they distanced themselves. We had close contact with them, and then they suddenly cut off contact with Russia. That was their initiative," the Kremlin leader said.

He claimed that Europeans "do not like" the results of current "peace initiatives" and have begun to obstruct the US administration and Trump in achieving peace through negotiations.

"They refused peace talks themselves and are now hindering President Trump," Putin said.

The Russian leader also stated that he has no intention of waging war with Europe but is ready for it.

Putin's remarks were made before a meeting with the US delegation, comprising Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the US delegation will convey signals to Ukraine immediately after their meeting with Putin in the Kremlin.

On the evening of 30 November, talks between Trump's team and the Ukrainian delegation took place in Florida regarding the "peace plan". US media published details about the nearly five-hour meeting and the topics discussed.