US row intensifies as Trump team demands Ukraine agree deal 'before security guarantees' & Ukrainian counterattack recaptures key positions in Pokrovsk

Day 1,372.

Today, as Thanksgiving is marked in the United States – and supposedly the day by which Ukraine was meant to agree to a peace deal, a deadline Donald Trump has now walked back – Russia denies leaking the phone call in which Steve Witkoff coached Vladimir Putin’s top aides on how to flatter the former president. We assess whether Marco Rubio’s apparent demand – that a peace deal be signed before the US grants Ukraine any security guarantees – is remotely deliverable. We also report on how Moldovan authorities attempted to return a Russian drone that violated their airspace. And later, we hear from the Ukrainian public, and gauge their reaction to this week’s extraordinary developments.

Contributors

Dominic Nicholls (Associate Editor of Defence). @DomNicholls on X.

Francis Dearnley (Executive Editor for Audio). @FrancisDearnley on X.

With thanks to Svitlana Morenets, columnist at the Spectator.

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CONTENT REFERENCED:

Who leaked Witkoff’s Kremlin call? These are the main suspects (The Telegraph):

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/11/26/steve-witkoff-kremlin-call-main-suspects-witi-leaks/

Made in Moscow: The “U.S. peace plan” for Ukraine was substantially formulated months ago by Kremlin operative Kirill Dmitriev (The Insider):

https://theins.press/en/politics/287159

Allies worry US demands Ukraine deal before security guarantees (POLITICO):

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/26/us-demands-peace-deal-before-security-guarantees-for-ukraine-00670210

Moldova's Foreign Ministry confronts Russian ambassador with drone that violated country's airspace (Kyiv Independent):

https://kyivindependent.com/moldovas-foreign-ministry-confronts-russian-ambassador-with-drone-that-violated-countrys-airspace/

A better way to craft a reparations loan (Hugo Dixon of the Ukraine Reparations Loan):

https://www.ukrainereparationsloan.com/post/a-better-way-to-craft-a-reparations-loan

Zarah Sultana’s pompous, luxury beliefs about Ukraine (The Spectator):

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/zarah-sultanas-pompous-luxury-beliefs-about-ukraine/

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