KYIV, Ukraine — On Wednesday, Ukraine and its European partners accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of merely pretending to be interested in peace discussions. This comes after a five-hour meeting with U.S. diplomats at the Kremlin failed to yield any significant progress.
British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper called on Putin to “cease the threats and violence” and genuinely engage in negotiations for a fair and enduring peace. Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha implored Putin to “stop squandering the world’s time.”
These statements highlight the persistent high tensions and deep-seated differences between Russia and the alliance of Ukraine and European nations concerning the resolution of the conflict, which began with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine almost four years ago.
Earlier, Putin accused European leaders of undermining efforts led by the U.S. to secure peace. He also issued a warning that Russia would be prepared for conflict with Europe if provoked.
Since the 2022 invasion, European and American governments have poured billions into supporting Ukraine both financially and militarily. However, under President Donald Trump, the U.S. has moderated its backing, focusing instead on bringing the war to an end.
On Wednesday, a Kremlin spokesperson refrained from discussing the specifics of the talks but denied any claims that Putin had dismissed the U.S. peace proposal.
Where the peace talks go from here depends largely on whether the Trump administration decides to increase the pressure on Russia or on Ukraine to make concessions.
Unclear where peace talks go now
A U.S. peace proposal that became public last month was criticized for being tilted heavily toward Moscow because it granted some of the Kremlin’s core demands that Kyiv has rejected as nonstarters.
Many European leaders worry that if Russia gets what it wants in Ukraine, it will have free rein to threaten their countries, which already have faced incursions from Russian drones and fighter jets, and an alleged widespread sabotage campaign.
Putin met Tuesday in Moscow with Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner. The Russian and American sides agreed not to disclose the substance of the talks, but at least one major hurdle to a settlement – the fate of four Ukrainian regions Russia partially seized and occupies and claims as its own – remains.
After the talks, Yuri Ushakov, a senior adviser to Putin, told reporters that “so far, a compromise hasn’t been found” on the issue of territory, without which, he said, the Kremlin sees “no resolution to the crisis.”
Ukraine has ruled out giving up territory that Russia has captured.
Asked whether peace was closer or further away after these talks, Ushakov said: “Not further, that’s for sure.”
“But there’s still a lot of work to be done, both in Washington and in Moscow,” he said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that it was “not correct” to say that Putin had rejected the U.S. peace plan. He declined to comment further on the talks.
“We’re deliberately not going to add anything,” he said. “It’s understood that the quieter these negotiations are conducted, the more productive they will be.”
Europeans step up assistance for Ukraine
Foreign ministers from European NATO countries, meeting in Brussels on Wednesday, showed little patience with Moscow.
“What we see is that Putin has not changed any course. He’s pushing more aggressively on the battlefield,” Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said. “It’s pretty obvious that he doesn’t want to have any kind of peace.”
Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen struck the same note. “So far we haven’t seen any concessions from the side of the aggressor, which is Russia, and I think the best confidence-building measure would be to start with a full ceasefire,” she told reporters.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Ukraine’s partners will keep sending it military aid to ensure pressure is maintained on Moscow.
“The peace talks are ongoing. That’s good,” Rutte said.
“But at the same time, we have to make sure that whilst they take place and we are not sure when they will end, that Ukraine is in the strongest possible position to keep the fight going, to fight back against the Russians,” he said.
Canada, Germany, Poland and the Netherlands announced that they will spend hundreds of millions of dollars more together to buy U.S. weapons to donate to Ukraine.
This year, European countries in NATO and Canada began buying American weapons for Ukraine under a financial arrangement known as the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List, or PURL.
The war claims more lives
Russia and Ukraine are engaged in a grim war of attrition on the battlefield and are using drones and missiles for long-range strikes behind the front line. Many analysts have noted that the slow slog favors Russia’s larger military, especially if disagreements between Europe and the U.S. or among Europeans hampers the delivery of weapons to Ukraine.
Russian drones hit the town of Ternivka in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, killing two people and injuring three more, the head of the regional military administration, Vladyslav Haivanenko, said Wednesday.
Two people were in critical condition, he said, after the attack destroyed one house and damaged six more.
Overall, Russia fired 111 strike and decoy drones at Ukraine overnight, Ukraine’s air force said.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Wednesday that air defenses destroyed 102 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Falling drone debris sparked a fire at an oil depot in the Tambov region, about 200 kilometers (120 miles) south of Moscow, local Gov. Yegveniy Pervyshov said.
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