“Russia does not want to negotiate anything other than the terms of the surrender of Ukraine and the West.” Behind the scenes of the fruitless negotiations between Putin and Trump's emissaries

President Donald Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, arrived in Moscow on Tuesday for his sixth visit on his mission to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine. All signs and official statements show that peace is by no means closer at the moment, and that Moscow's and Kiev's positions are still irreconcilable, BBC Russian, Kyiv Post and NBC write.

Five hours of negotiations by the team sent by Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to Moscow on Tuesday night ended without results: no progress, no agreement and no sign that Vladimir Putin is willing to reconsider his maximalist demands in Ukraine.

This was conveyed, directly or between the lines, by the Kremlin adviser, Yuri Ushakov, immediately after the meeting.

For many analysts, the impasse resulting from these negotiations is not a surprise.

“Russia does not want to negotiate anything other than the terms of the surrender of Ukraine and the West,” observed George Barros, an analyst at the Institute for the Study of War.

A similar view was expressed by BBC Russian correspondent Elizaveta Fokht, who pointed out that Putin's main goal now is to achieve all the goals he set when he launched the full-scale war in Ukraine.

Russia's red lines

Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy, and Jared Kushner, the US president's son-in-law, left Moscow less than an hour after the talks ended, without making a statement.

Following them, however, their Russian counterparts clarified the situation, with Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov offering a firm verdict: the two sides “are neither closer nor further from resolving the crisis in Ukraine”, and cited a total lack of progress regarding the fundamental issue of the territory.

NBC News reported, citing a Russian official briefed on Moscow's position, that Russia has three points on which it does not intend to compromise.

According to him, Moscow wants the entire Donbas region, it wants the limitation of the Ukrainian armed forces and for the US and Europe to recognize the Ukrainian territories annexed by Russia.

However, these three issues are also considered “red lines” for the Ukrainian authorities.

What's next?

According to the Axios correspondent, Barak Ravid, Witkoff and Kushner were planning to go to Europe, where they would have met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Two people familiar with the planning told the Kyiv Post that a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Brussels was considered earlier in the day.

By evening, the plan seemed to have been abandoned, with Zelenskiy opting to return from Ireland to Ukraine without stopping in Belgium.

What Ushakov said after the meeting

After the talks, Putin's advisor briefly described the content of the negotiations.

“A compromise has not yet been reached on the territorial issue, but the proposals of the American side have been listened to,” TASS wrote, referring to Ushakov's statements.

“We are neither closer nor further from solving the crisis,” TASS also reported, quoting Ushakov. “We still have a lot of work to do,” he added.

According to Ushakov, “some of the proposals of the American side for solving the Ukrainian conflict drew criticism from Putin, but he agreed to many of them.”

In conclusion, “Russia reviewed Trump's 27-point plan, then received four more documents, all of which were discussed at Tuesday's meeting,” TASS reports. However, the “specific formulation of the peace plan” was not discussed; the emphasis was on “essence”.

Russia and the United States agreed to continue contacts; the possibility of a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump depends on the work of their advisers and foreign ministries.

“Russia wants capitulation, not compromise”

In Washington, analysts described the resulting stalemate as predictable.

George Barros, an analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, wrote in a social media post that Moscow's refusal to consider the US-Ukraine counterproposal is fully consistent with past behavior.

“Russia does not want to negotiate anything other than the terms of the capitulation of Ukraine and the West,” Barros noted. “We should not allow Putin to keep the US in suspense indefinitely,” he added.

Steven Pifer, former US ambassador to Ukraine, echoed the same observation.

“Putin still believes that Russia can achieve its goals on the battlefield. Therefore, he sees no reason to compromise,” he said.

“The West must help Ukraine convince Putin that Russia will fail on the battlefield and that it must seriously negotiate to end the war,” Pifer added.

One of the clearest — and most direct — assessments came from diplomat Michael Carpenter, former senior director for Europe on Joe Biden's National Security Council.

“Steve Witkoff has consistently promoted Russia's interests in the negotiation process, so it's no wonder he was well received in Moscow,” Carpenter told the Kyiv Post.

“But if we pause for a moment, the key to understanding this negotiation process is to understand that no matter how the terms of a potential peace plan are drafted, it cannot be accepted by both sides at the same time,” he added.

The former NSC official explained the fundamental geopolitical issue: Kiev's strategic objective is to survive as a sovereign and democratic state so that it can pursue EU integration.

Putin, however, considers this result a strategic defeat for Russia.

The Kremlin did not like even the first version of the US plan

In an analysis of the meeting, BBC Russian correspondent Elizaveta Fokht pointed out that Putin's main goal now is to achieve the goals he set out when he launched the full-scale war in Ukraine.

Moscow's actions, she said, indicate that the Kremlin believes this can be achieved in two ways.

The first is military. And from what Putin has said, he's completely happy with that option — despite the huge price Russia is paying, Fokht notes.

The second approach is diplomatic.

But the Kremlin's plan is not to engage in complex negotiations between Kiev and Brussels and eventually reach peace. The main objective is to present Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders as problematic actors and to convince the US, if not to join Russia, then at least to withdraw its support for Ukraine, the BBC correspondent points out.

The Kremlin, she also said, will be satisfied if the White House completely withdraws from the negotiation process.

Elizaveta Fokht also noted that any peace plan that Russia considers acceptable under the current circumstances must satisfy not just some of Vladimir Putin's demands, but almost all of them.

“This is precisely why the territorial agreement in which the US administration has placed so much hope is insufficient. The issues of NATO expansion, Ukraine's security guarantees, the size of its army and its political future are no less urgent for Moscow,” Fokht said.

The Kremlin clearly disliked even the first version of Witkoff's plan, even though it was extremely advantageous to Putin in the eyes of Ukraine and its allies. The version developed in collaboration with Kiev will be even less acceptable, she added.

Zelensky's fears

In Dublin on Tuesday, Zelenski publicly expressed concern that the United States — and the Trump administration in particular — may lose interest and no longer provide the guarantees Ukraine needs for a viable peace.

“If one of our allies is tired, I'm afraid,” Zelenskiy said. “Russia's goal is to withdraw America's interest from this situation,” he added.

The Ukrainian president said he was waiting for “signals” from the US delegation and was ready to meet with Trump “depending on today's talks”.

European diplomats have privately echoed Zelenski's concerns.

A senior Western official told the Kyiv Post that the American team appeared “out of sync,” adding that “Moscow is exploiting this disorganization.”

Another diplomat was more direct: “If Washington blinks, even for a moment, Putin will advance. Europe has seen this pattern for ten years.”

Putin launches new threats

Meanwhile, Putin used the talks to issue a series of warnings to Europe, accusing EU governments of blocking a possible deal between the US and Russia.

He added that Russia is “prepared” for war with Europe if provoked.

“Russia does not intend to fight against Europe,” Putin said. “But if Europe starts, we're ready right now.”

Also in the context of the negotiations, the Kremlin tried to use the presence of American emissaries in Russia, notes the Kyiv Post.

A video broadcast before the talks caught Putin asking Witkoff how he thought of Moscow.

Trump's emissary responded, noting that it was “a magnificent city.” A few moments later, the transmission abruptly cut off.