Russia and the United States ended a crucial round of talks in Moscow without any breakthrough on a Ukraine peace deal, just hours after President Vladimir Putin warned that Russia was “ready for war” with Europe if provoked. Despite calling the discussions “useful” and “constructive”, the Kremlin said the sides were drifting apart on key issues, including territorial control.
What did Moscow say about ending wartime peace efforts in Ukraine?
Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov told Russian media that after a nearly five-hour meeting with US envoy Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, Moscow and Washington were “neither further nor closer to resolving the crisis in Ukraine. Much work needs to be done.”
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Ushakov added that while the meeting was “extremely useful, constructive and informative”, no agreement was reached on the major issues. “Some of the American proposals seem more or less acceptable, but they need to be discussed. Some formulations that have been offered to us are not acceptable, so the work will continue.”
He said the Russian side had received four new documents from the US in addition to the original peace plan, but major differences remained. “We did not discuss… specific American proposals, but we discussed the essence of what is enshrined in these American documents. We could agree with some things… and Mr. President also did not hide our critical and even negative attitude towards a number of proposals.”
Why did Putin escalate tensions with Europe?
Putin’s warning that Russia is ready to confront Europe overshadowed the diplomatic push. “If Europe – all of a sudden – wants to start a war, and if it starts a war, then a situation can very quickly arise where we will have no one to negotiate with,” the Kremlin adviser quoted him as saying.
The Russian president also accused European leaders of actively undermining US-led peace efforts. “Europe’s only aim is to prevent Trump from achieving peace through negotiations – they have no peace agenda. They are warmongers. If they want to return to reality on the ground, then they are welcome.”
Separately, Putin has threatened to strike the vessels of countries supporting Ukraine’s recent naval attacks. He described the incidents as criminal and said: “What the Ukrainian armed forces are doing now is piracy.
What role do US ambassadors play?
Witkoff — who Russian officials say is his sixth meeting with Putin in Russia this year — arrived with a revised framework based on an earlier 28-point proposal drawn up by the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, Kirill Dmitriev. The plan alarmed Kiev and European capitals by repeating long-standing Russian demands that Ukraine has outright rejected.
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The US delegation also discussed adapting elements of Trump’s Gaza mediation model. According to a recording cited by Bloomberg, a call between Witkoff and Ushakov on Oct. 14 showed the U.S. envoy suggesting they “work together on a plan to end the war in Ukraine along the lines of Trump’s Gaza peace deal.”
After the meeting in the Kremlin, Witkoff traveled to the US Embassy in Moscow, while Dmitriev described the meeting as “productive” in a post on social media.
How does Ukraine respond to diplomatic pressure?
Ukrainian President Zelensky said that he is waiting for the outcome of the Moscow meeting before taking further steps. “I am ready to receive all the signals, ready to meet with President Trump – everything depends on today’s talks,” he said in Dublin. “Dialogues can continue, but results are needed.”
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Zelenskyy, who met his negotiating team in Ireland earlier in the day to provide details of the parallel Florida talks between US and Ukrainian officials, stressed that progress must not come at the cost of rewarding Russian aggression. During a visit to Paris on Monday, he said the latest US proposals “look better” after discussions with Witkoff and French President Emmanuel Macron.
He added that while Witkoff was “very welcome in Ukraine”, he was not sure if the US delegation was ready to travel to Kyiv “in these days”.
What will follow the Trump-Putin trail?
Ushakov suggested that a possible meeting between Putin and Trump “will depend on what progress is made.” The Kremlin says the dialogue remains open, but that “a lot of work remains to be done in both Moscow and Washington.”
Trump has previously called on both Russia and Ukraine to stop fighting along the current front lines as part of a tentative ceasefire. After a meeting with Putin in Alaska in August, he canceled plans for a second summit in Budapest in October, concluding that Moscow had not softened its maximalist conditions.
Zelenskyy has repeatedly stated that he will agree to a ceasefire – but only one that does not entrench Russian occupation.
