Russia ‘ready’ for war with Europe, Putin says, as US peace talks end without progress

According to Rokna, citing The Guardian, Russia is “prepared” for a confrontation with Europe, President Vladimir Putin warned on Tuesday, as high-level talks between Moscow and Washington ended without meaningful progress toward a peace agreement for Ukraine.

A senior adviser to Putin said that negotiations between the Russian delegation and U.S. representatives had produced no breakthrough. Speaking to Russian media, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov stated that after a five-hour meeting with Trump envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, the discussions left both parties “neither closer nor further” from resolving the conflict. “There remains significant work ahead,” he said.

Although Ushakov described the talks as “highly useful, constructive, and well-informed,” he acknowledged that no deal had been reached on core points, including potential demarcation lines for territorial control in a future settlement between Russia and Ukraine.

“We did not address detailed American proposals,” he added, noting that the talks focused instead on the underlying principles of the U.S. plan. “Some elements were acceptable to us … while the president did not conceal our critical or even negative position toward several aspects.” Ushakov also indicated that certain parts of the discussions would remain confidential and that a new summit between Trump and Putin was not expected in the near term.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio later commented that “some progress” had been made regarding security guarantees for Ukraine. “Our effort — and we believe we’ve advanced this — is to understand what Ukrainians can accept that would still provide real future security,” Rubio told Fox News. He said Washington hoped any compromise would allow Ukraine to “rebuild and prosper.”

The cautious assessments followed Putin’s confrontational remarks at the outset of the talks, during which he accused European governments of obstructing peace efforts and said their conditions for ending the war were “unacceptable for Russia.”

“Europe is preventing the U.S. administration from achieving peace in Ukraine,” Putin declared. He added: “Russia has no intention of fighting Europe, but if Europe initiates conflict, we are ready at this moment.”

Putin did not specify which European demands he was rejecting, but claimed that European states were “on the side of war.”

Witkoff, now on his sixth visit to Moscow this year, was expected to present Putin with a revised version of the U.S. peace proposal — redrafted with guidance from a senior Russian official and modified to be more acceptable to Kyiv.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was “awaiting signals” from the U.S. delegation following its meeting with Putin, amid a vigorous round of shuttle diplomacy that, according to the Trump administration, represents its strongest opportunity yet to broker an end to the conflict.

Nevertheless, skepticism remains high over Russia’s willingness to accept concessions rather than prolong the war while anticipating further deterioration between Washington and European capitals.

“I am ready to receive all signals and prepared for a meeting with President Trump,” Zelenskyy wrote on X, adding that “everything depends on today’s discussions.” Several U.S. media outlets reported that he was expected to meet Witkoff and Kushner in Europe following their Moscow talks.

A brief Kremlin video showed the two delegations seated at opposite sides of an oval white table, with Putin accompanied by advisers Kirill Dmitriev and Yuri Ushakov. Putin asked the U.S. envoys about a short tour of Moscow they had taken before the talks, to which Witkoff responded that the city was “magnificent.” The feed then ended.

Witkoff and Kushner arrived in Moscow on Tuesday after meeting Ukrainian officials in Florida over the weekend to negotiate revisions to the original 28-point peace plan, which heavily favored Moscow. Zelenskyy, who has been rallying support among European allies for changes to that proposal, said in Paris that the updated version “looks better,” but stressed that negotiations were “not finished.”

He strongly opposed provisions in the original draft that would have forced Ukraine to relinquish eastern territories it still controls and drastically reduce the size of its armed forces. Zelenskyy has also insisted on clear, enforceable Western security guarantees to prevent future Russian aggression.

Putin, meanwhile, has said that only the initial U.S. proposal could form the basis for further talks — though he noted it still requires substantial modifications.

Despite recent diplomatic activity and multiple revisions to the U.S. plan, bridging the gap remains extremely difficult. Russia’s maximalist terms effectively amount to Ukrainian capitulation.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Trump described the war as a “mess” and acknowledged the difficulty of resolving it.

Many of Putin’s comments appeared aimed at widening divisions between Washington and European capitals. European leaders have succeeded in pushing back against parts of the original U.S. plan, but it remains unclear how significantly Washington is incorporating their concerns.

Earlier on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Putin and Witkoff would discuss the “understandings” recently reached between Washington and Kyiv, adding that Russia remained open to negotiations but would insist on fulfilling the objectives of its “special military operation.”

Those objectives include sweeping demands that severely undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty — deep reductions in its armed forces, a prohibition on Western military aid, extensive limits on political independence, and the surrender of Ukrainian-controlled territory in the east.

On the eve of the talks, Putin claimed Russian troops had captured the strategic city of Pokrovsk. Appearing in military attire during a visit to a command center, he celebrated what he called the “significant” seizure of the town, once an important logistical hub for Ukrainian forces — though Kyiv later disputed the claim.

Russian troops have spent more than a year attempting to take Pokrovsk, seen as a gateway to Donetsk, suffering heavy losses. Ukrainian analysts and military bloggers have acknowledged that Russia now controls most of the city, with battlefield maps showing Russian forces in near-complete possession.

Encouraged by recent territorial gains, Putin has signaled that Russia is ready to continue its offensive should diplomatic efforts stall, repeatedly stressing that his forces remain on the attack.

On Tuesday, he also threatened retaliation against Ukraine’s ports and shipping infrastructure after Kyiv struck multiple vessels belonging to Russia’s so-called shadow fleet in the Black Sea. Putin warned that Moscow would “intensify strikes on Ukrainian ports and on any ships entering them,” calling the attacks on Russian tankers “piracy.”

Russian state media echoed the Kremlin’s assertive tone ahead of the U.S. visit. The newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda, often referred to as “Putin’s favorite paper,” wrote that the president’s remarks suggested “more and more Ukrainian territory is falling under our control — and that next time Russia’s terms may be harsher.” The outlet also claimed that Moscow viewed the latest U.S.–Ukrainian negotiations as stalled, arguing that Kyiv was refusing to yield. “For the third time in 10 days, the U.S. has tried to pressure Ukraine — and once again Washington has failed,” it wrote.