Russia says no Ukraine compromise after five-hour Putin meeting with Trump envoys

Russia and the United States failed to reach a compromise on a potential peace deal to end the war in Ukraine following five hours of talks between President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump’s top envoys, the Kremlin said on Wednesday.

The late-night meeting at the Kremlin brought together Putin, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. The discussions stretched past midnight but produced no breakthrough, according to Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov.

“Compromises have not yet been found,” Ushakov told reporters. “There is still a lot of work to be done.”

He said Putin reacted negatively to some U.S. proposals and that the two sides remained divided on key issues, including the “territorial problem” — Russia’s claim to the entire Donbas region.

Ukraine continues to control roughly 5,000 square kilometers of territory that Moscow asserts as its own, although almost all countries recognize Donbas as part of Ukraine.

Witkoff later visited the U.S. Embassy in Moscow to brief the White House, Ushakov said.

While describing the talks as “constructive,” Ushakov stressed that no meeting between Putin and Trump is planned at this stage. He added that both sides had agreed not to disclose further details of the discussions.

Trump, speaking earlier in Washington, called the conflict “a mess” and said his envoys were in Moscow to explore whether a settlement was possible. He cited casualty estimates of 25,000 to 30,000 per month in the ongoing war.

Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, triggering the most severe confrontation between Moscow and the West since the Cold War.

Concerns Among European Allies

The talks come amid unease in European capitals after a leaked set of 28 draft U.S. peace proposals appeared in November, prompting fears that Washington was leaning too far toward Moscow’s demands. European powers subsequently drafted counter-proposals, and U.S. and Ukrainian officials said they had produced an “updated and refined peace framework” during follow-up discussions in Geneva.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, speaking in Dublin, said he feared the U.S. might lose interest in the peace process and warned against negotiations taking place “behind Ukraine’s back.”

“There will be no easy solutions,” he said. “It is important that everything is fair and open.”

Just hours before meeting Witkoff and Kushner, Putin said Russia did not seek war with Europe but warned that any conflict would end “so swiftly” that negotiations afterward would be meaningless. He also threatened to cut Ukraine’s access to the sea in response to recent drone attacks on Russia’s “shadow fleet” in the Black Sea.

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, said Putin’s remarks showed he was not prepared to end the war.