Work continues in the background over Thanksgiving between the U.S., Ukraine, and Russia to bridge the gaps and reach a consensus on a peace deal that ends the ongoing war, which is set to enter its fourth winter unless an agreement is found soon. But U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian officials have warned that the process is complex and will take time.
What To Know
- Estonia's foreign minister Margus Tsahkna has said neither Russia nor Vladimir Putin's actions show any signs of peace arriving soon in Ukraine telling Estonian media the Russian president "smells blood in the air."
- Russian deputy foreign minister Sergey Ryabkov said he sees "healthy elements of realism" in U.S. foreign policy under the Trump administration and that it is "now open to a direct and frank dialogue". But Ryabkov had earlier ruled out Russia making any major concessions to reach a peace deal.
- Trump Envoy Steve Witkoff remains due in Moscow to meet with Putin in the coming days, though a firm time and date is yet to be announced. Witkoff will discuss the refined and updated peace plan following U.S. talks with Ukraine to address its concerns about the original draft. Kyiv has tentatively agreed to much of the new plan.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin promised Moscow's Eurasian allies in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) he would upgrade their militaries with better equipment and weapons in a large-scale program. He said the CSTO "reliably guarantees security and stability in the Eurasian space" and "protects [their] sovereignty and territorial integrity".
- NATO Secretary-General ruled out a Russian veto on Ukraine's membership of NATO, a condition of the initial Russian-influenced draft of the Trump peace plan. “Russia has neither a vote nor a veto over who can be a member of NATO,” Rutte told Spanish outlet El Pais.
- European allies are working on a plan to see a multinational peacekeeping force deployed to Ukraine as part of a post-war security guarantee, an idea Russia has rejected. Trump has said the Europeans would play a leading role on Ukraine's security guarantees under a peace deal.
- Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, a key Putin ally and northern neighbor of Ukraine, called Trump's original draft plan "workable" but urged for more specifics on the finer details: "It needs to be presented in a clear and concise way, with every detail spelled out precisely."
Stay with Newsweek for live coverage of the Russia-Ukraine peace process.
Nov 27, 2025 at 05:51 AM EST
Russia Uses ‘false Flag’ Tankers to Transport Sanctioned Oil: Report
A think tank report released Thursday has outlined how sanctions-busting vessels carrying Russian oil have allowed Moscow to continue raising funds for its war machine in Ukraine.
The Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) said in its report that 113 Russian vessels sailed under a false flag in the first nine months of 2025, transporting 11 million tonnes of oil valued at 4.7 billion euros ($5.4bn).
Sanctions on Russian oil imposed since the start of Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion have aimed to choke the Kremlin’s war machine but Russia has turned to a shadow fleet of often older and less safe vessels whose links to Moscow are hidden.
Advocacy groups and world leaders have frequently raised the alarm over Russia’s ability to continue making money from its most lucrative export through this method and called for a concerted crackdown.
The CREA report said that as of September 2025, there were 90 Russian “shadow vessels” operating under false flags, or non-Russian flags to evade scrutiny. This is a six-fold increase from December 2024. The report also said that a total of 113 Russian shadow vessels had flown a false flag in the first three quarters of 2025.
As well as allowing Russia to earn export revenues, the insurance of any vessel flying a false flag is void, and with many tankers being old, increases risk for coastal states on their routes, in the event of accidents or an oil spill.
“The number of Russian shadow tankers sailing under false flags is now increasing at an alarming rate,” said Luke Wickenden, report co-author said in a statement.
...Nov 27, 2025 at 05:30 AM EST
Putin ‘Smells Blood in the Air’ says Estonia’s foreign minister
Estonia’s foreign minister Margus Tsahkna has said that any agreement to end the war does not seem imminent and that Vladimir Putin “smells blood in the air.”
Tsahkna told Estonian media that he had been regular contact with Ukrainian officials and that that Russian leader is “pushing as hard as he can, on the front lines, against civilians, bombing infrastructure, the energy grid.”
“There is no sign of peace anywhere," Tsahkna added, despite ongoing discussions about a peace plan which had initially been proposed by the U.S. and has since been whittled down.
"The Ukrainians' main message has been that they want to keep President Trump and the United States engaged in the matter,” he said.
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