Five hours of talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump's chief negotiators appear to have failed to produce a breakthrough in reaching a peace deal for Ukraine, the BBC reports today.
A Kremlin spokesman said the meeting in Moscow was "constructive" but that parts of the plan remained unacceptable to Russia.
Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner participated in the talks with Putin after weeks of intense diplomacy aimed at ending the war.
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The American team did not comment on the talks after leaving Moscow.
Earlier in the day, Putin said that changes proposed by Kiev and Europe to the US-backed draft peace plan were unacceptable, adding that if Europe "wants to go to war and start it, Russia is ready."
Ukraine and its European allies are lobbying the US to amend the original 28-point draft agreement.
The White House is seeking to secure a quick deal, and the Kremlin has previously indicated it is open to it.
The plan, which was largely seen as favorable to Russia after it was leaked to the media in November, has undergone several changes in recent weeks.
Asked about the proposal after a meeting in Moscow, Yuri Ushakov, one of Putin's closest aides, said the Kremlin "agreed on some points, but criticized some things."
"We haven't reached a compromise version yet... There's a lot of work ahead of us," he added.
Key disagreements between Moscow and Kiev remain, including over the territory that, according to the plan, Ukraine should give up.
This also includes parts of the territory that the Ukrainian army still controls.
There are also disagreements about the security guarantees offered by Europe.
Moscow and Ukraine's European allies remain sharply opposed over their views on what a peace solution should look like.
Ahead of the meeting with the US delegation, Putin criticized Ukraine's European allies, saying they are on the front lines of war, not peace.
"They live in the illusion that they can inflict a strategic defeat on Russia. Russia never planned to go to war with Europe, I have repeated it 100 times, but if Europe suddenly wants to go to war and start it, we are ready," the Russian leader said.
Speaking before the talks in the Kremlin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said there was a chance to end the war "now more than ever before," but that elements of the proposal still needed to be worked out.
"There is no simple solution," Zelensky said, reiterating that without Ukraine's participation, a peace agreement cannot be reached and clear security guarantees cannot be agreed upon, such as NATO membership, which Russia has opposed from the beginning and Trump has excluded it.
Ukrainian representatives have held two rounds of talks with senior American officials in recent weeks.
The White House said the proposal had been "perfected," although details were not confirmed.
Putin, who believes Russia has the initiative on the battlefield, appeared unwavering on his demands as recently as last week, while Zelensky has repeatedly said he will never give up control of eastern Ukrainian regions.
While negotiations were underway in Moscow, Trump said the conflict was not easy to resolve, describing it as "chaos."
In an interview with Fox News, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US had "made some progress" in recent weeks, but declined to say how confident he was that a deal could be reached, saying much depended on the Russian president.
"Decisions, in the case of Russia, must be made by Putin alone - not his advisors, but only him," he stressed.
Kiev's European allies opposed the original 28-point American plan, removing many controversial parts, such as the recognition of Donetsk and Lugansk as de facto Russian.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, tens of thousands of soldiers have been killed or wounded, according to the United Nations (UN).
Civilian facilities, including kindergartens, hospitals, and residential buildings, have been destroyed or severely damaged so far in the war.
The conflict between the two former Soviet states dates back to 2014, when Ukraine's pro-Russian president was overthrown, and Russia responded by annexing Crimea and supporting armed uprisings in eastern Ukraine.
Who are the key negotiators?
SAD: The Driscoll
Driscoll (39) is the youngest US Secretary of Defense in history, as well as a former classmate and close ally of Vice President Jay Dee Vance.
He became a central figure in the negotiations to end the war when he unexpectedly joined the delegation in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, in November - shortly after US peace plans were leaked.
Driscoll has been promoted as a potential future US Secretary of Defense.
He has "a powerful combination of experiences to serve as a disruptor and an agent of change," Trump said when he nominated him to be Secretary of the Army at the start of his second term.
SAD: Stiff Vitkof
Witkoff, a real estate businessman and Trump's golf partner, was initially appointed as the US special envoy for the Middle East but later became a key player in US negotiations with Russia.
He was criticized for appearing to prioritize Moscow's demands to end the war and in 2025, he visited the Russian capital several times rather than Kiev.
This was his sixth known visit to Moscow for a meeting with Putin.
USA: Marco Rubio
Rubio, Secretary of State and therefore the country's top diplomat, led the American delegation to Geneva where the latest version of the peace plan underwent changes.
Compared to other members of Trump's team, he is said to have been the most critical of Russia.
During peace talks in Florida, held the last weekend in November, he said that the latest round of diplomacy "wasn't just about conditions that end the fighting."
"It's also about the conditions that will enable Ukraine to have long-term prosperity. I think we've worked on that today, but there's still work to be done," he added.
USA: Jared Kushner
Kushner is Trump's son-in-law and a key figure during the president's first term in the role of senior adviser.
He is known for his international business connections and real estate development.
The 44-year-old has no official role in the current Trump administration, but he served as a White House advisor during diplomatic talks in this second term.
It appears that he has only recently become involved in peace negotiations on Ukraine.
Ukraine: Andrey Yermak (recently resigned)
He resigned after members of the anti-corruption agency searched his apartment in Kiev.
Yermak was previously the long-time chief of staff to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the country's chief negotiator.
As chief of staff, he wielded enormous power at the top of the government and was appointed by Zelensky to lead key peace negotiations.
Ukraine: Rustem Umerov
Umerov is the head of Ukraine's Security Council and replaced Yermak as chief negotiator during the talks in Florida in late November.
He was a veteran of peace negotiations at the beginning of the war, and was then appointed Minister of Defense of Ukraine, a position he held until July 2025.
It is unclear whether his participation in the talks will relaunch Kiev or result in a lack of continuity, says James Waterhouse, the BBC's Ukraine correspondent.
Russia: Kiril Dmitriev
Dmitriev has been a regular member of US-Russian diplomatic initiatives since the beginning of Trump's second presidential term.
He used to work and live in the US and has more experience in business deals than in diplomacy or the military.
Unlike most people in Putin's entourage, he feels comfortable in an American TV studio.
It carefully praises Trump's diplomatic skills while presenting Western viewers with the Russian government's narrative in their own language.
The draft peace plan that emerged in November followed an alleged three-day meeting between Dmitriev and Vitkoff in Miami.
Russia: Yuri Ushakov
Ushakov has advised Putin on foreign policy since 2012, and was also Russia's ambassador to the United States from 1998 to 2008.
In a leaked conversation with Witkoff, published by Bloomberg, he seemed to want Trump to speak with Putin to advance negotiations.
"The European plan is, at first glance, completely unconstructive and does not work for us," he said in Moscow at the end of November.
Russia: Vladimir Medinsky
Medinsky is one of Putin's top aides.
He was a key member of the Russian negotiating team since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The former culture minister is known as a conservative who helped write a new Russian school textbook that justifies the war.
He was born in Smila, a city in central Ukraine.
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