Ukraine war: Putin accused of ‘wasting the world’s time’ after rejecting Trump peace deal | World News

Vladimir Putin has been accused of “wasting the world’s time” after rejecting the latest iteration of Donald Trump’s peace plan for Ukraine.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, were involved in a five-hour discussion at the Kremlin, which came days after separate talks were held with a Ukrainian delegation in Florida.

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But following the meeting, Yuri Ushakov, Mr Putin’s foreign policy adviser, warned that a compromise is yet to be found – and added that “there’s still a lot of work to be done” before both presidents meet again.

Mr Ushakov said: “We could agree on some things, and the president confirmed this to his interlocutors. Other things provoked criticism – and the president also didn’t hide our critical and even negative attitude toward a number of proposals.

“Territorial issues were specifically discussed, without which we see no resolution to the crisis.”

‘Putin should end the bluster and the bloodshed’

But Ukrainian and European officials accused Russia of not pursuing “any kind of peace”.

UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said Mr Putin “should end the bluster and the bloodshed and be ready to come to the table and to support a just and lasting peace”, while Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha called on the Russian leader to “stop wasting the world’s time”.

Estonian foreign minister Margus Tsahkna said Mr Putin “has not changed course”, adding: “It’s pretty obvious that he doesn’t want to have any kind of peace.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was “not correct” to say that Mr Putin had rejected the US peace plan, but declined to comment further on the talks.

One particular sticking point relates to Russia’s demand that Ukraine cedes control of the entire Donbas region, which has caused alarm among European leaders.

When asked whether a deal was closer or further away following the talks, Mr Ushakov said: “Not further, that’s for sure.

“But there’s still a lot of work to be done, both in Washington and in Moscow.”

Nonetheless, the senior Russian official described the negotiations as “rather useful, constructive and rather substantive” – and confirmed that the framework of America’s peace plan was discussed rather than specific wording.

“Some of the American proposals seem more or less acceptable, but they need to be discussed,” he added. “Some of the wording that was proposed doesn’t suit us. So the work will continue.”

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NATO foreign ministers gather in Brussels

Foreign ministers from NATO countries were meeting in Brussels on Wednesday.

NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte said Ukraine’s partners will keep sending it military aid to ensure pressure is maintained on Moscow – but also said it was “good” that peace talks were ongoing.

He added: “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.”

Canada, Germany, Poland and the Netherlands announced they will spend hundreds of millions of dollars more together to buy US weapons to donate to Ukraine.

Putin: Europe ‘on the side of war’

On Tuesday, Mr Putin had said that Russia was ready to fight if Europe wanted a war.

The Russian president accused European powers of changing peace proposals for Ukraine with “demands” that Russia considered “absolutely unacceptable”.

Mr Putin also claimed the Europeans were “on the side of war”.

“We’re not planning to go to war with Europe, I’ve said that a hundred times,” he said following an investment forum.

“But if Europe suddenly wants to fight us and starts, we’re ready right now. There can be no doubt about that.”

He added: “If Europe suddenly wants to start a war with us and does, then a situation could very quickly arise in which we have no one to negotiate with.”

The warning comes as Sky News releases new episodes of The Wargame podcast, where interviews with almost every British defence secretary since the end of the Cold War suggest the UK is “really unprepared” to fight a war.

European governments have spent billions of pounds to support Ukraine financially and militarily, as well as investing in efforts to wean themselves from Russian energy, and strengthening their own armed forces.

There is concern that, if Moscow gets what it wants in Ukraine, it could embolden Russia to threaten or disrupt other European countries, which have already faced repeated incursions from drones and fighter jets in recent months.

Zelenskyy in Dublin

Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in Dublin on Tuesday to meet Ireland’s prime minister and president.

During the trip, Ukraine’s president had warned that a lot was riding on the outcome of the talks in Moscow – and he was expecting swift reports from the US envoys on whether negotiations could move forward.

“The future and the next steps depend on these signals,” Mr Zelenskyy said at a news conference. “If the signals show fair play with our partners, we then might meet very soon.”

Mr Zelenskyy added: “Our people are dying every day. I am ready … to meet with President Trump. It all depends on the talks.”

He said there would be “no easy decisions” – and stressed that there must be “no games behind Ukraine’s back”.