Putin has accused continental leaders of trying to scupper his peace talks with the US. Photo / Getty Images
Russia is prepared to go to war with Europe, Vladimir Putin has declared, as he accused leaders from the Continent of trying to scupper his peace talks with the United States.
Hours before meeting with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s envoys, at the Kremlin, the Russian President said European tweaks to a plan to end the war in Ukraine were “unacceptable”.
Russia and the US had agreed to a 28-point plan, which France said amounted to a “capitulation” for Ukraine. It included halving the size of the Ukrainian army, banning the country from joining Nato and handing Putin back most of Russia’s frozen assets, as well as full ownership over the Donbas regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
European leaders, including Emmanuel Macron and Giorgia Meloni, opposed any text that makes decisions about frozen Russian assets, Nato or EU membership without their permission.
US officials worked over the weekend with Ukraine and Europe to find an acceptable middle ground and have watered the plan down to be more palatable to Kyiv.
Contentious points, including territorial concessions and a restriction on Nato membership, were removed. They have not satisfied Putin.
“Europe is offering proposals for a peace plan for Ukraine that are unacceptable to Russia,” he said.
“Russia has no intention of going to war with European countries, but if Europe starts a war, Russia is ready right now and then Moscow will have nobody to negotiate with.
“Europe has no peace agenda and is now hindering US efforts to resolve the conflict,” Putin added.
His comments are designed to drive a further wedge between Trump and the continent.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s President, said “everything depends” on the US delegation’s meetings in Moscow.
Following his first state visit to Ireland, in which he called for “peace without humiliation”, he said the next steps would be decided quickly, depending on “the signals”.
“If the signals open the possibility and the chance for global but swift decisions”, then he was “ready” for a meeting with Trump.
“Everything depends on today’s discussions,” he added.
It is understood the thorniest issues in the peace plan, including security guarantees, territorial concessions and Nato membership, have been left blank in the latest version of the strategy, to be filled out only after direct talks between Zelenskyy and Trump.
Witkoff and Kushner are expected to meet the Ukrainian leader in either the Irish capital or Brussels after concluding talks with Putin in Moscow.
The US delegation arrived at the Kremlin on Tuesday afternoon (local time) after sweeping through the city in a motorcade of blacked-out limousines and police cars.
It was Witkoff’s sixth meeting with the Russian President this year and Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said the talks would last “as long as it takes”.
Kushner and Witkoff have emerged as key figures in the Trump administration after helping to negotiate an end to the war in Gaza earlier this year.
Earlier, the pair was spotted walking through the streets of the Russian capital towards the Red Square with Kirill Dmitriev after dining at a Michelin-starred restaurant.
State media published footage of the trio, noting a particular closeness between Witkoff and Dmitriev, Putin’s Ukrainian-born lead envoy in talks with the US, who was wearing a Russian-flagged sports coat.
Witkoff, a property developer, has been accused of being too close to Russia throughout the peace process, and said he “liked” Putin after an earlier trip to Moscow.
Last week, Bloomberg published a leaked phone call between Witkoff and Yuri Ushakov, a senior Kremlin aide. In the call, the US envoy advised Putin’s aide on how to pitch a peace plan to Trump.
The negotiators have also been accused of trying to profit from the peace deal by staking a claim in Ukraine’s rare earth minerals.
Before heading to Moscow, Witkoff held discussions with European leaders, including Sir Keir Starmer, as well as with Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s new chief negotiator.
Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said before Tuesday’s talks that he would not be drawn on Russia’s “red lines” during negotiations, adding that “megaphone diplomacy” would not be helpful.
Trump said on Sunday he thought there was a “good chance” that a peace settlement could be reached after talks between US and Ukrainian officials in Florida.
Putin has said publicly he is ready for peace, but threatened that if Ukraine refused to give up territory not under Russian control, then his forces would advance further and take more territory.
One of Russia’s demands, that Ukraine commit to not joining Nato, was given a boost on Tuesday as Mark Rutte, the alliance’s secretary general, said there was currently no viable path for it to join.
Rutte told reporters there had to be consensus among members for a new country to join the pact and, “right now, as you know, there is no consensus on Ukraine joining Nato”.
Before the Tuesday talks began, Russia claimed to have captured the embattled city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk, a key logistics hub that Ukrainian forces have defended for more than a year.
Ukraine denied that Russia had taken Pokrovsk, insisting that fighting was continuing in the north of the city.
On Tuesday, Zelenskyy accused Russia of launching “new disinformation campaigns” before the talks with the US representatives.
The Ukrainian President said: “We note that the Russians have already launched new disinformation campaigns in view of preparations for their upcoming meetings with the American side.
“Ukraine approaches all diplomatic efforts with utmost seriousness – we are committed to achieving a real peace and guaranteed security.”
Witkoff’s visit to Moscow followed a flurry of diplomatic activity, which began in October when he welcomed Kirill Dmitriev, a senior Russian politician, for talks in Miami.
The result of those talks was a controversial 28-point peace plan, which was largely favourable to Russia, which has demanded more Ukrainian territory, as well as restrictions on Ukraine’s army and its ability to join Nato.
The plan was leaked to the press last month, prompting fury in Ukraine and among European allies, who were left out of negotiations. US and Ukrainian officials then mapped out a revised peace plan that was less detrimental to Kyiv.
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