A senior aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin said talks between Russia and the United States had failed to bring either side closer to a settlement of the Ukraine conflict, coming just hours after Putin warned that Moscow was prepared for a wider confrontation with Europe.
Speaking to Russian media, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said discussions with US envoy Steve Witkoff and former US president Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner had lasted about five hours but had produced no concrete breakthrough. He indicated that both sides remained at a standstill, adding that considerable work was still pending.
While describing the meeting as constructive and detailed, Ushakov acknowledged that no consensus had been reached on major issues, including where territorial boundaries might lie under any future peace arrangement between Russia and Ukraine. He also said some elements of the talks would remain confidential and suggested that a meeting between Putin and Trump was not likely in the near term.
The cautious assessment of the talks followed sharp comments from Putin as Witkoff and Kushner arrived in Moscow. The Russian leader accused European countries of undermining peace efforts and suggested that proposals coming from Europe were unacceptable from Moscow’s perspective, The Guardian reported.
Russian President Vladimir Putin did not specify which demands from European countries he considered unacceptable, but accused them of favouring continued conflict rather than peace.
US envoy Steve Witkoff, on his sixth visit to Moscow this year, was expected to present Putin with a revised American peace proposal that had reportedly been prepared with input from a senior Russian official and later modified to address Ukrainian concerns.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was waiting for feedback from the US delegation following its talks with Putin, as part of what has been described as intense shuttle diplomacy. The Trump administration has suggested this diplomatic push represented its strongest effort so far to end the war.
However, there is growing doubt in diplomatic circles that Moscow is prepared to make meaningful compromises. Observers believe Russia may instead choose to prolong the conflict and wait for tensions between the Trump administration and its European allies to worsen.
Witkoff and Jared Kushner had arrived in Moscow on Tuesday after holding talks with Ukrainian officials in Florida over the weekend. Those discussions focused on revisions to an earlier 28-point peace plan, which was widely seen as favouring Russia.
Zelenskyy has objected to parts of that original proposal, particularly provisions that would require Ukraine to give up territory in the east and reduce its military strength. He has also insisted on firm, enforceable security guarantees from Western nations to prevent any future Russian attack.
Putin has meanwhile maintained that only the original US proposal could form the basis for negotiations, though he has also indicated it would need major changes.
Despite multiple revisions to the proposal in recent weeks, the divide between the two sides remains wide. Analysts note that Russia’s maximalist demands in effect require Ukraine’s capitulation.
US President Donald Trump described the conflict during a cabinet meeting as chaotic and difficult to resolve.
Encouraged by recent gains on the battlefield, Putin has also signalled that Russia is prepared to continue fighting if talks fail, repeatedly indicating that Russian forces remain on the offensive.