Kremlin Says No Compromise on Territory After Five Hours With U.S. Envoys

Russian President Vladimir Putin met U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner for almost five hours in Moscow on Tuesday night, and the Kremlin said afterward that no compromise had been found on territory, according to Al Jazeera and Fox News. The talks ended after midnight with no breakthrough on a plan to end the war in Ukraine.

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov called the meeting “extremely useful, constructive and substantive,” according to Fox News. “So far, we haven’t found a compromise, but some American solutions can be discussed,” Al Jazeera quoted him as saying. He said the Russian side received four documents from the envoys, including one with 27 points, and that some U.S. proposals “appear more or less acceptable” while “certain wording we have been offered is not suitable for us,” according to Fox News.

Territory remains the central obstacle. Russia wants Ukraine to give up all of the Donbas region, including areas it does not control, Fox News reported. Al Jazeera noted that Russia’s earlier demands in the leaked U.S. draft included control of all of Donbas, a cap on Ukraine’s army and recognition of a Russian presence in Zaporizhia and Kherson, which Kyiv calls “capitulation.” Russia also claimed to have captured the city of Pokrovsk, which Kyiv denies, and Moscow controls more than 19 percent of Ukraine, Al Jazeera said.

Putin also turned on Europe. Al Jazeera reported he said “they are on the side of war,” in remarks about Ukraine’s European allies, and warned of more attacks on Ukrainian ports, vessels and tankers that support Kyiv. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha replied that Putin “threatens sea ports and freedom of navigation,” and President Volodymyr Zelensky called for a “dignified peace” and warned that Russia wants U.S. interest in the war to fade.

President Donald Trump, speaking at a Cabinet meeting, said, “Not an easy situation. What a mess,” according to Al Jazeera.

Next steps run through Europe. Zelensky said Rustem Umerov would brief European national security advisers in Brussels on the Moscow meeting, after which Umerov and armed forces chief Andrii Hnatov would prepare a meeting with Trump’s envoys, Fox News reported. Al Jazeera cited a senior Kyiv figure telling AFP that Witkoff and Kushner could meet a Ukrainian delegation as early as Wednesday, possibly in Brussels. Zelensky said he expected “a new report following the results of today’s meetings in Europe.”

Fox News also noted that the Institute for the Study of War reported Russian advances in Sumy Oblast and near Kostiantynivka, Pokrovsk and Huliaipole.