D-Day; Is Putin refusing? He will let us see only one thing

Namely, as reported by the Ukrainian portal nv.ua, the Kremlin plans to keep today's meeting between Vladimir Putin and Steve Witkoff behind the scenes and away from public discussion.

According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the goal of the Russian Federation is most likely an attempt to conceal the fact that Russia will likely reject the peace proposal that the United States and Ukraine have been working on.

ISW analysts drew attention to the statement of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who said that Russia does not intend to conduct negotiations 'in megaphone mode' or 'through the media,' commenting on questions about the points of the version of the peace plan developed by the United States and Ukraine.

According to Peskov, on December 2 the Kremlin will publish a video showing the beginning of the meeting between Putin and Witkoff, but it is 'too early to talk' about any public statements afterward, the spokesman said.

Additionally, the first deputy chairman of the Russian State Duma’s Committee on International Affairs, Alexey Chepa, stated on Monday that Moscow would like the U.S. delegation to 'confirm the principled positions' that the United States and Russia allegedly reached during the summit in Alaska in August 2025, even though no public agreements were mentioned at that time.

ISW also cites the statement of Aleksey Zhuravlyov, deputy chairman of the State Duma’s Defense Committee, who likewise said on Monday that negotiations between Russia and the United States should be conducted 'properly,' after which Europe and Ukraine should be confronted with the outcome — 'and they will have nowhere to go: they will sit down at the table and sign whatever we say.'

The meeting between Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and Steve Witkoff, special envoy of U.S. President Donald Trump, will be held today, and according to Dmitry Peskov, Putin and Witkoff will meet in the afternoon.

Before Witkoff’s visit, the Kremlin announced that Putin visited a Russian military command post on November 30, where Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov briefed the Russian president on the alleged capture of Pokrovsk and Vovchansk, towns in the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions, respectively.

However, neither ISW nor DeepState have confirmed this information.

As noted by Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for Information Countermeasures at the National Security and Defense Council, in the coming weeks the Russians will make numerous attempts to increase pressure on the front, accompanied by loud informational statements.

'All of this is being done solely for a Western audience and to raise the stakes in diplomacy. At the moment, part of Vovchansk is under the control of Ukraine’s Defense Forces, and the enemy has not captured Kupiansk but has lied about it. Heavy fighting continues at the front, and the enemy is throwing in many forces,' Kovalenko emphasized.