A Kremlin spokesman says talks are continuing as US President Donald Trump pushes for an end to the conflict.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in televised comments Wednesday that negotiations were continuing and “the process is serious.”
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US President Donald Trump has put forward a 28-point plan – details of which were leaked last week – and is sending his top negotiator Steve Witkoff to Moscow in the coming days as his administration pushes to end the nearly four-year war.
But Ukraine and its European allies had raised concerns that the US proposal endorsed too many Russian demands, including ceding additional territory to Ukraine, curbing its troop numbers and barring it from joining NATO.
The plan has since been revised with an emerging proposal that reportedly accommodates some of those concerns.
Trump also later said that progress was being made and Moscow was making concessions, even though the war, in which Russian forces have been advancing in recent weeks, was only going to proceed “in one direction”.
Welcoming US efforts, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters on Wednesday that “there can be no question of any concessions or surrender of our position on those key points.”
Jim Townsend, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, told Al Jazeera that Russia likely views Trump as impatient and unfocused and will adopt delaying tactics to avoid concessions.
Townsend said, “This could be a real mess. The Russians don’t feel any pressure. They think if they hold out long enough they will win.” He said that so far all the pressure is on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Zelensky said on Tuesday he was ready to pursue a US-backed framework to end the war and discuss disputed points in talks with Trump, which the Ukrainian leader said should include European allies.
Speaking at the White House the same day, the US President said that resolving the Ukraine war was “not easy”, but added, “We are getting closer to an agreement.”
“I thought this (deal) would be easy, but I think we’re making progress,” he said.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Wednesday there is “zero indication” that Russia is ready for a ceasefire in Ukraine.
Kallas said that additional sanctions against Moscow were necessary along with increased support for Kiev and stressed that any peace deal must include concrete concessions from Russia.
“Any agreement should focus on what Russia should do,” he said, adding that Europe must ensure Moscow “will never attack again.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also said that while Europe wanted the war to end as soon as possible, “an agreement negotiated by the Great Powers without the approval of the Ukrainians and without the approval of the Europeans will not be the basis for a real, lasting peace.”
“Europe is not a toy, but a sovereign actor pursuing its own interests and values,” Merz told lawmakers in Berlin.
Drone attacks continue
Meanwhile, the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhia came under a major Russian drone strike overnight.
The head of the regional military administration, Ivan Fedorov, said at least 19 people were injured and more than 50 residential buildings were damaged, including a university dormitory full of people.
Meanwhile, Russian air defense shot down 33 Ukrainian drones overnight over various Russian territories and the Black Sea, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
Ukraine’s General Staff also said Ukrainian forces attacked a manufacturing plant in Cheboksary, western Russia, which produces equipment and components for cruise and ballistic missiles.
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