(MENAFN- Live Mint) Russia and the United States ended a high-stakes round of talks in Moscow without any breakthrough on a Ukraine peace deal, only hours after President Vladimir Putin warned that Russia was“ready for war” with Europe if provoked. Despite describing the discussions as“useful” and“constructive”, the Kremlin said the sides remained far apart on core issues, including territorial control.

What did Moscow say about the stalled Ukraine war peace effort?

Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov told Russian media that after a nearly five-hour meeting with US envoy Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, Moscow and Washington were“neither further nor closer to resolving the crisis in Ukraine. There is a lot of work to be done.”

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Ushakov added that while the meeting was“extremely useful, constructive, and informed”, no agreement had been reached on fundamental questions.“Some American proposals seem more or less acceptable, but they need to be discussed. Some of the wording we've been offered isn't acceptable, so the work will continue.”

He said the Russian side had received four new documents from the US, in addition to the original peace plan, but that major divergences remained.“We did not discuss... specific American proposals, but discussed the essence of what is embedded in these American documents. We could agree with some things... and the president also did not hide our critical and even negative attitude towards a number of proposals.”

Why did Putin escalate tensions with Europe?

Putin's warning that Russia is prepared for confrontation with Europe overshadowed the diplomatic push.“If Europe - all of a sudden - wants to start a war and if it does start a war, then, very rapidly, there might be a situation where we have no one to negotiate with,” a Kremlin aide quoted him as saying.

The Russian president also accused European leaders of actively undermining US-driven peace efforts.“Europe's only goal is to prevent Trump from achieving peace through negotiations - they have no peace agenda. They are warmongers. If they want to go back to the reality on the ground, then they're welcome.”

Separately, Putin threatened strikes on vessels belonging to countries supporting Ukraine's recent naval attacks. Describing the incidents as criminal, he said:“What the Ukrainian armed forces are doing now is piracy.”

What role are the US envoys playing?

Witkoff – who according to Russian officials was meeting Putin in Russia for the sixth time this year – arrived with a revised framework based on an earlier 28-point proposal drafted with Russian sovereign wealth fund head Kirill Dmitriev. That plan had alarmed Kyiv and European capitals by echoing long-standing Russian demands that Ukraine has rejected outright.

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The US delegation also discussed adapting elements of Trump's Gaza mediation model. According to a recording cited by Bloomberg, an Oct. 14 call between Witkoff and Ushakov showed the American envoy proposing they“work together on a plan to end the war in Ukraine modelled on Trump's Gaza peace deal”.

Following the Kremlin talks, Witkoff travelled to the US embassy in Moscow, while Dmitriev called the meeting“productive” in a social media post.

How is Ukraine responding to the diplomatic push?

Ukrainian President Zelensky said he was awaiting the outcome of the Moscow meeting before making further moves.“I am ready to receive all signals, ready to meet with President Trump - everything depends on today's talks,” he said in Dublin.“The dialogs can continue, but results are needed.”

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Zelensky, who met his negotiating team in Ireland earlier in the day for a detailed briefing on the parallel Florida talks between US and Ukrainian officials, stressed that progress must not come at the cost of rewarding Russian aggression. During a visit to Paris on Monday, he said the latest US proposals“look better” after discussions with Witkoff and French President Emmanuel Macron.

He added that while Witkoff was“very welcome to Ukraine”, he was unsure if the US delegation was prepared to travel to Kyiv“these days”.

What comes next for the Trump–Putin track?

Ushakov indicated that a possible meeting between Putin and Trump“will depend on what progress is being made”. The Kremlin maintains that dialogue remains open but that“there is a lot of work left to do both in Moscow and Washington”.

Trump has previously urged both Russia and Ukraine to halt fighting along current front lines as part of a preliminary ceasefire. After meeting Putin in Alaska in August, he cancelled plans for a second summit in Budapest in October, concluding that Moscow had not softened its maximalist conditions.

Zelensky has repeatedly said he will agree to a ceasefire - but only one that does not entrench Russia's occupation.

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