One of Vladimir Putin’s most senior officials has offered a blunt assessment of Europe’s emerging peace proposals for Ukraine, signalling Moscow’s scepticism before the plans have even been fully revealed.
Ukraine’s allies have been scrambling to shape alternative pathways to end the nearly four-year-long war, amid fears that Donald Trump’s proposed framework could reward Russia’s invasion with territorial gains.
European representatives have been engaging with US counterparts in an effort to weave their ideas into a broader settlement draft, though the precise details of those proposals remain under wraps.
Against this backdrop, Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev travelled to Florida over the weekend for discussions with US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Dmitriev is expected to return to Moscow on Monday to brief the Russian president on the progress of the talks.
Kremlin Casts Doubt on European Ukraine Peace Efforts
Even before Europe’s proposals were formally presented, the Kremlin signalled its lack of enthusiasm. Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign policy aide, dismissed their potential impact outright.
“This is not a forecast – I am sure that the proposals that the Europeans and Ukrainians have made or are trying to make definitely do not improve the possibility of achieving long-term peace,” Ushakov said. Despite this, he maintained that Russia would continue negotiations with Washington.
His comments appear to undermine repeated claims from the Trump camp that Moscow is genuinely prepared to bring the conflict to an end.
Trump and US Intelligence at Odds Over Russia’s Intentions
Earlier this month, Trump stated that Putin “would like to end the war”, even as the Russian leader publicly reiterated his intention to seize full control of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, ruling out any compromise on that objective.
Over the weekend, Trump’s director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, further fuelled controversy by rejecting European Union and Nato assessments of Russia’s ambitions.
Writing on X, she said: “Deep State warmongers and their Propaganda Media are again trying to undermine President Trump’s efforts to bring peace to Ukraine – and indeed Europe – by falsely claiming that the ‘US intelligence community’ agrees to and supports EU/NATO viewpoint that Russia’s aim is to invade/conquer Europe (in order to gin up support for their pro-war policies).
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“The truth is that ‘US intelligence’ assesses that Russia does not even have the capability to conquer and occupy Ukraine, what to speak of ‘invading and occupying’ Europe.”
Trump officials have also drawn criticism for repeatedly downplaying the origins of the conflict, which began when Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022, while placing blame instead on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
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