Russia's crushing 5-word Trump verdict confirms blood will still be spilled in Europe

Russian President Vladimir Putin (Image: Getty)

Vladimir Putin has delivered a stinging rejection of Donald Trump’s latest attempt to broker a Ukraine peace deal, despite a five-hour meeting in the Kremlin between the Russian leader, Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff, and son-in-law Jared Kushner. When asked by reporters whether peace was now closer or further away following the late-night talks, Yuri Ushakov, a senior adviser to Putin, offered a damningly minimalist five-word response: “Not further, that’s for sure.”

The response, which Ushakov quickly tempered with the observation that the conversation had been “rather useful,constructive, rather substantive,” confirmed that a compromise on core issues remains out of reach. In a frustrating development for the Trump administration, the Russian aide stated that the Kremlin currently sees “no resolution to the crisis” without an agreement on territories.

Russian blogger reflects on losses in Ukraine

This verdict effectively torpedoes the US-led diplomatic push for a swift ceasefire, confirming that Moscow is unwilling to accept the current proposals and remains committed to its occupation of Ukrainian land. Ushakov simply confirmed that while "some of the American proposals seem more or less acceptable," other key "wordings... don’t suit us." He concluded that much work remains in both Washington and Moscow, but contacts would continue.

At the heart of the failed diplomatic effort is the Trump peace plan, which became public last month and has been widely criticised for being heavily biased towards Moscow. The original document was rumoured to include core Russian demands that Kyiv has consistently rejected as non-starters, such as Ukraine ceding the entire eastern Donbas region and permanently ruling out its bid to join NATO.

Negotiators indicated the framework has been revised, with several iterations of a peace plan discussed in the Kremlin meeting. The talks in Moscow followed a weekend meeting in Florida between US officials and a Ukrainian team.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that Trump’s initial 28-point plan was eventually refined down to 20 items in those talks, though the Moscow outcome casts doubt on the progress.

Mr Zelensky, who was visiting Ireland during the high-stakes negotiations, said the next steps depended entirely on the signals received from the US envoys. “There is a lot of dialogue, but we need results. Our people are dying every day," he stated.

Coinciding with the diplomatic push, Putin stepped up his rhetoric against Europe, accusing Kyiv’s European allies of actively sabotaging the US-led peace efforts. He claimed: “They don’t have a peace agenda, they’re on the side of the war,” in what appeared to be an attempt to sow discord between Trump and European countries. He accused Europe of amending peace proposals with “demands that are absolutely unacceptable to Russia,” thus “blocking the entire peace process” and shifting the blame onto Moscow.

European governments have provided billions in financial and military support to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in 2022. They worry that concessions to Russia in Ukraine could create a precedent for threatening or disrupting other European countries. Crucially, the Trump peace plan relies on Europe to provide the bulk of the financing and security guarantees for a post-war Ukraine, despite the fact that European leaders were not consulted on the original document.

European governments are pushing to ensure that any peace efforts properly address their concerns and are currently working on future security guarantees for Ukraine. European officials caution that the road to peace will be long, and it remains unclear how envoys will manage to bridge the gap on basic differences such as who controls what territory.The lack of clear compromise on territory, as stated by Ushakov, underscores the deep division the Trump administration still faces in securing a successful deal.