MOSCOW(National Times)- Vladimir Putin indicated on Thursday that Russia will not compromise on its hardline demands to end the Ukraine offensive, but offered a short-term ceasefire in a key frontline city during a Kremlin meeting with US envoys.
The Russian president said he would not water down his demands to control parts of Ukraine that Russia claims to have annexed and ruled out agreeing to foreign peacekeeping troops in Ukraine — a deployment that he said would be a “continuation of war”.
Washington’s envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, were in Moscow after two days of talks in Abu Dhabi on ending Europe’s worst conflict since World War II.
Putin’s comments appeared to douse hopes that a peace deal could be within reach, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said there was a “window of opportunity” to achieve “a result” before 2027.
The Americans, meanwhile, urged Putin to allow European representatives to sit at the table for the next round of talks.
Witkoff claimed that Putin agreed to let European representatives join the next round of Ukraine peace talks, though the Russian leader said Washington must work with its European allies to understand if they want peace or war in Ukraine.
“The Europeans will join at the next meeting, which we consider to be a very important moment because they are our partners and it’s important to us that they take part,” Witkoff told Russian state TV after meeting Putin in the Kremlin.
Moscow has successfully managed to reframe the discussions on the war as part of a wider discussion about European security.
But Kyiv and European leaders have urged against a new “Yalta” — a reference to the WWII-era deal to carve the continent into spheres of influence after the war — and said Russia must stop hostilities first.
Witkoff and Kushner left the Kremlin on Thursday afternoon and were set to travel straight to Dublin for talks with Zelensky, who is attending a European summit there.
In the Irish capital, Zelensky said fresh restrictions had been placed on the Starshield satellite internet service, key to Ukraine’s frontline communications.
The limits hamper Kyiv’s ability to intercept Russia’s jet-drones, meaning “more of our people are killed”, Zelensky said.
Usually held behind closed doors, the Kremlin chose to televise a lengthy opening exchange between Putin and the US envoys.
The Russian leader rejected talk of a possible territorial settlement involving “grey” — or demilitarised — zones between Ukrainian and Russian positions. “For us, there is only one line of demarcation: the state border. Because then it will be clear and obvious: here are we, and here are you,” he said.
Russia has seized swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine since launching its full-scale offensive in 2022, in addition to Crimea, which it annexed in 2014.
