Putin indicates he will not compromise on Ukraine in meeting with US envoys

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 the Second World War.

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.

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, and territory that was under the control of Russian-backed separatists.

Moscow has formally annexed four regions of Ukraine – Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia – despite not having full control over them.

The annexations are rejected by Kyiv and the West as illegal and not recognised by the international community.

Advances by Russia’s army have slowed throughout 2026 and hundreds of thousands have been killed in the conflict, with millions more forced to flee their homes.

Putin proposed organising what he called a “humanitarian mission” to the city of Kostyantynivka, where he said some 400-500 civilians still lived.

Russia claimed in the summer to have captured the city, but Ukraine insists fighting there is ongoing.

The idea would be modelled on a short-term truce that last month allowed hundreds of stranded locals to flee the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky in southern Ukraine.

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Dmytro Lytvyn, an adviser to Ukraine’s Zelensky, said it was “clear what they want in Kostyantynivka”.

“In Oleshky they brought in equipment and rotated troops under the cover of a humanitarian operation,” he said.

Putin also repeated his long-standing objection to any foreign troops being deployed to Ukraine as a post-war peacekeeping force – something Kyiv says is crucial to thwarting another Russian attack.

Moscow would see any such deployment a “legitimate target”. Putin said, adding that would mean “the continuation of war”.

European countries have been rattled by Russia pushing a review of the entire continent’s security architecture, with the US also floating a new framework.

That is widely seen as a reference to Moscow’s long-standing demands to push back the Nato military alliance in eastern Europe and end Western military support to Kyiv.

As European leaders gathered in the Irish capital on Thursday, EU chief Antonio Costa said “there is no need to reinvent the wheel” on Europe’s security framework as he accused Russia of wrecking it by attacking Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron, meanwhile, urged Europe to rally behind a “clear and united vision” on what it wants from Ukraine talks.

Russia and the United States are pushing Europe to name a single representative who they can deal with.