Kyiv: Ukrainian and European officials on Wednesday accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of showing only a superficial interest in peace efforts after a five-hour meeting with United States envoys at the Kremlin produced no indication of progress, although negotiations are expected to continue.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Putin should “stop wasting the world's time”.

UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper stated that the Russian leader “should end the bluster and the bloodshed and be ready to come to the table and to support a just and lasting peace” both for Ukraine and for European security.

Putin met US President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner late on Tuesday in Moscow. The meeting represented a further step in Washington’s renewed effort to broker a peace agreement that has remained elusive since Trump returned to office in January.

The Russian and US delegations agreed not to reveal the details of the discussion. However, one major obstacle remains unresolved: whether Russia would be allowed to retain the Ukrainian territories it has occupied since its invasion in February 2022.

Yuri Ushakov, a senior adviser to Putin, told reporters that “so far, a compromise hasn't been found” on the territorial issue. He said the Kremlin sees “no resolution to the crisis” without addressing that point. Ukraine has also ruled out surrendering any of its occupied land.

Ushakov described the talks with the American officials as “rather useful, constructive, rather substantive”, yet said the discussions focused on the broader framework of the US peace proposal rather than “specific wording”.

How did Putin respond to Europe’s role?

Ahead of the Kremlin meeting, Putin sharply criticised Europe’s involvement in the peace process, accusing European countries of attempting to sabotage a settlement.

He then warned that while he does not wish to fight Europe, “if Europe suddenly wants to wage a war with us and starts it, we are ready right away”.

These remarks kept tensions high in the already strained efforts to end the nearly four-year conflict.

At a meeting in Brussels, foreign ministers from European NATO states expressed little patience with Moscow.

“What we see is that Putin has not changed any course. He's pushing more aggressively on the battlefield,” Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said. “It's pretty obvious that he doesn't want to have any kind of peace.”

Finland’s Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen made a similar point. “So far we haven't seen any concessions from the side of the aggressor, which is Russia, and I think the best confidence-building measure would be to start with a full ceasefire,” she told reporters.

What is NATO’s position?

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Ukraine’s partners will continue providing military aid to ensure ongoing pressure on Moscow.

“The peace talks are ongoing. That's good,” Rutte said.

“But at the same time, we have to make sure that whilst they take place and we are not sure when they will end, that Ukraine is in the strongest possible position to keep the fight going, to fight back against the Russians. But also in the strongest possible position when peace talks really get to a point where they sit at the table,” he noted.

Canada, Germany, Poland and the Netherlands announced fresh joint spending of hundreds of millions of dollars to purchase US weapons for donation to Ukraine.

In August, European NATO members began procuring American weapons for Kyiv through a financial mechanism known as the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List, or PURL.

What is happening on the battlefield?

Russia and Ukraine continue to fight a prolonged war of attrition, with both sides deploying drones and missiles for long-range attacks far behind the front line.

Russian drones struck the town of Ternivka in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, killing two people and injuring three, the head of the regional military administration, Vladyslav Haivanenko, said on Wednesday. Two of the injured were in critical condition. One house was destroyed and six others were damaged.

Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia launched 111 strike and decoy drones across the country overnight.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Ministry of Defence said its air defences shot down 102 Ukrainian drones during the same period.

Falling drone debris caused a fire at an oil depot in the Tambov region, about 200 kilometres south of Moscow, local Governor Yegveniy Pervyshov said.

AP inputs