Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine’s European allies Tuesday of sabotaging U.S.-led efforts to end the war that have gained momentum in recent weeks.

“They don’t have a peace agenda, they’re on the side of the war,” Putin said after speaking to an investment forum and before he held talks the talks with a U.S. delegation led by envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner at the Kremlin.

The Russian leader accused Europe of amending peace proposals with “demands that are absolutely unacceptable to Russia,” thus “blocking the entire peace process,” only to blame Russia for it.

“That’s their goal,” Putin said.

His remarks were in line with the narrative that Russia pushed forward after Trump returned to the White House this year and initiated talks with Moscow, painting Europe’s staunch support of Ukraine as one of the main hurdles on the path to peace.

Witkoff and Jared Kushner were due to meet with Putin in Moscow on Tuesday, taking to the Kremlin an embryonic peace plan that Washington hopes can end the nearly four-year war in Ukraine.

Coinciding with Witkoff’s trip, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy went to Ireland, continuing his visits to European countries that have helped sustain his country’s fight against Russia’s invasion.

In what could be a high-stakes day of negotiations, Zelenskyy said he was expecting swift reports later in the day from the U.S. envoys in Moscow on whether talks could move forward, after Trump’s initial 28-point plan was whittled down to 20 in Sunday’s talks between U.S. and Ukrainian officials in Florida.

“They want to report right after that meeting to us, specifically. The future and the next steps depend on these signals. Such steps will change throughout today, even hour by hour, I believe,” Zelenskyy said at a news conference in Dublin with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin.

“If the signals show fair play with our partners, we then might meet very soon, meet with the American delegation,” he said.

“There is a lot of dialogue, but we need results. Our people are dying every day,” Zelenskyy said. “I am ready … to meet with President Trump. It all depends on today’s talks.”

Building on progress in Florida

Witkoff and Kushner were seen leaving a restaurant in central Moscow at lunchtime Tuesday, ahead of their meeting with Putin.

After months of frustration in his efforts to stop the fighting, Trump is deploying officials to get traction for his peace proposals. Kushner will join the meeting between Putin and Witkoff, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. He said the talks would take “as long as needed” and will involve only Witkoff, Kushner and an interpreter from the U.S. side.

The talks have followed parallel lines so far, with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio sitting down with Ukrainian officials, and now Witkoff and Kushner in Moscow.

Zelenskyy said he met Tuesday with the Ukrainian delegation that returned from the negotiations with U.S. representatives in Florida. Rubio said those talks made progress but added that “there’s more work to be done.”

Zelenskyy said the Florida talks took as their cue a document that both sides drafted at an earlier meeting in Geneva. The Ukrainian leader said that document was now “finalized,” although he didn’t explain what that meant.

Ukrainian diplomats are working to ensure that European partners are “substantially involved” in decision-making, Zelenskyy said on the Telegram messaging app, and warned about what he said were Russian disinformation campaigns aimed at steering the negotiations.

“Ukrainian intelligence will provide partners with the information we have about Russia’s true intentions and its attempts to use diplomatic efforts as cover to ease sanctions and block important collective European decisions,” Zelenskyy said.

European leaders want a say

Zelenskyy met with political leaders and lawmakers in Dublin on his first official visit. Ireland is officially neutral and isn’t a member of NATO but has sent nonlethal military support to Ukraine. More than 100,000 Ukrainians have moved to Ireland since Russia launched its war on Feb. 24, 2022.

Though this week’s consultations could move the process forward, few details have become public. It remains unclear how envoys are going to bridge the gap between the two sides on such basic differences as who keeps what territory. European officials say the road to peace will be long.

European leaders, who fear Russia’s future territorial ambitions and are trying to figure out how they can fund Ukraine’s fight beyond this year, are trying to make their voices heard after being largely sidelined by Washington. They are also working on future security guarantees for Ukraine.

Zelenskyy was in Paris on Monday, and French President Emmanuel Macron said they spoke by phone with Witkoff. They also spoke to leaders of eight other European countries as well as top European Union officials and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.

Macron said the coming days will see “crucial discussions” between U.S. officials and Western partners. Zelenskyy’s visit to Paris followed Sunday’s meeting between Ukrainian and U.S. officials, which Rubio described as productive.

Diplomats face a hard time trying to bridge Russian and Ukrainian differences and persuading them to strike compromises. The key obstacles — over whether Kyiv should cede land to Moscow and how to ensure Ukraine’s future security — appear unresolved.

Zelenskyy under pressure

Zelenskyy is under severe pressure in one of the darkest periods of the war for his country. As well as managing diplomatic pressure, he must find money to keep Ukraine afloat, address a corruption scandal that has reached the top echelons of his government, and keep Russia at bay on the battlefield.

The Kremlin late Monday claimed that Russian forces have captured the key city of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. Zelenskyy, however, said in Paris that fighting was still ongoing in Pokrovsk on Monday.

Ukraine’s general staff on Tuesday also denied Russia’s claims to have captured Pokrovsk, saying it was a propaganda stunt. The Ukrainian army is readying additional logistic routes to deliver supplies to troops in the area, the Facebook post said.

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