American and European officials pursued intensive diplomacy aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, including a Moscow meeting between Steve Witkoff and Vladimir Putin and a White House reception for Putin. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky traveled to Washington with European leaders amid cautious optimism and claims that a diplomatic deadlock might be broken. Despite those engagements, Russia maintained its long-held positions, did not agree to a joint meeting with Zelensky, and continued military strikes, including a missile and drone barrage on Kyiv that killed at least 15 people. European officials expressed confusion about what commitments Putin made and whether U.S. interlocutors accurately interpreted his terms. A reported core dispute centers on a Russian demand for de jure recognition of control over parts of Ukraine.
American and European officials thought they had a real opportunity to end the war in Ukraine. President Donald Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, flew to Moscow to meet with Vladimir Putin believing that a breakthrough was possible. Trump welcomed the Russian president to America, rolling out a literal red carpet. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rushed to Washington with European leaders, some of whom even sounded optimistic. Trump "broke the deadlock" with Putin, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said at the White House. "If we play this well, we could end this."
European officials say they've grown mystified by what exactly Putin promised the Americans behind closed doors, what U.S. officials took away from their discussions with Moscow, and where that leaves the effort to achieve peace. 'There's mostly confusion at this point,' a top European official told us. (Officials interviewed for this story spoke on the condition of anonymity because details of the deliberations remain largely private.) 'It's not clear what Putin told Witkoff or Trump or if they understood him properly. It's a puzzle that we're all trying to solve.'
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