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PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN: (Through interpreter) So pleased to see you.
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
That is Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin this evening. He was welcoming President Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. The two Americans were there to try and bridge differences with the Russian leader over a revised U.S. peace plan for Ukraine. In the coming days, Ukrainian and European officials will chime in with their perspectives. Here to tell us more about how things went, or didn't, in Russia is NPR correspondent Charles Maynes in Moscow. Hi there.
CHARLES MAYNES, BYLINE: Hi there.
SUMMERS: So Charles, there's been a whole lot of speculation about these talks. What can you tell us about the meeting?
MAYNES: Yeah, so the Kremlin said these talks would go as long as necessary, and in fact, they went over five hours, well past midnight here in Moscow. Afterwards, a Kremlin advisor, Yuri Ushakov, called the talks constructive and substantive. But he made clear – no deal, at least not yet. Ushakov said that while Russia agreed with some points of the U.S. plan, others it did not. And a lot of people will say that's not surprising given that Russia wasn't signaling it was open to any grand compromise. In fact, just an hour before going into this meeting, President Putin met with reporters on the sidelines of the conference here, where he talked a lot more about war than peace.
SUMMERS: What did Putin have to say?
MAYNES: Well, you know, he touted Russia's recent battlefield success, claiming its forces had now control over several key cities that opened up likely further advances in east Ukraine, never mind that that advance has been much slower than anticipated and come at heavy losses. You know, he called Ukraine's leadership delusional when it came to understanding the real situation on the ground, and he offered an explanation as to why he preferred negotiating with the U.S. to Europe. Here's Putin.
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PUTIN: (Speaking Russian).
MAYNES: So here, Putin says that Europe was offering obviously unacceptable proposals to Russia because, unlike the U.S., it didn't want an end to this war. And he accused the Europeans of doing everything to undermine U.S. peace efforts. In fact, Putin even went further. He suggested Europe wanted war with Russia and vowed that Russia was ready to respond - today, if necessary.
SUMMERS: Charles, what do you make of that?
MAYNES: Well, you know, it does seem an attempt to essentially spin the U.S. into thinking that changes to this American peace plan - which, after all, was initially criticized as tilted heavily in Russia's favor but since amended to reflect Ukrainian and European interest - that these are nonstarters. You know, to make them believe that concessions to Ukraine - the concessions Ukraine doesn't accept now will simply be taken by force later by Russia. But also, Putin is clearly now trying to drive a wedge between Europe and the U.S., knowing full well there are differences over how they approach the Ukraine issue and much else when it comes to security in Europe.
SUMMERS: What might a deal look like? And, as you know, what are the key sticking points here?
MAYNES: Well, you know, the U.S. has framed their plan around the idea of a mix of peace and prosperity, floating this idea that business investments can play a role in helping heal resentments. But those resentments are many, of course. You know, among them, the issue of territory. Russia wants recognition of lands it's annexed from Ukraine against international law. Moreover, it wants land it claims is Russian but doesn't actually control, which you can understand is even more controversial.
Another big sticking point - security guarantees. You know, Kyiv wants a robust and enforceable promise from the West before it even begins to talk about ceding land to Moscow, just to be sure that nothing like this Russian invasion ever happens again. You know, ideally, in Ukraine's view, that would be NATO membership, but Russia rules that out or, for that matter, any arrangement that smacks of an Article 5-like protection for Ukraine. So this is a complex issue, and I frankly don't envy those trying to untie the knot.
SUMMERS: NPR's Charles Maynes, thank you.
MAYNES: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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