Russian President Vladimir Putin signaled Thursday that Moscow would not back down from its demands to end the war in Ukraine, but offered a temporary cease-fire in a key frontline city during talks with U.S. envoys at the Kremlin.

The Russian president said he would not water down his territorial demands to control parts of Ukraine that Russia claims to have annexed, and ruled out agreeing to foreign peacekeeping troops being stationed in Ukraine – a deployment that he said would be a "continuation of war."

Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff were in Moscow after two days of talks in Abu Dhabi searching for a way to end Europe's worst conflict since World War II.

Putin's comments appeared to douse hopes that a deal to end the war could be within grasp, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said there was a "window of opportunity" to achieve "a result" before 2027.

The Americans, meanwhile, urged Putin to allow European representatives to sit at the table for the next round of talks.

Moscow has successfully managed to reframe the discussions on the war as part of a wider discussion about European security.

But Kyiv and European leaders have urged against a new "Yalta" – a reference to the post-WWII deal to carve the continent into spheres of influence – and said talks must be focused on ending the war in Ukraine first.

Kushner and Witkoff will travel to Dublin, where a European summit is taking place, to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later on Thursday.

Usually held behind closed doors, the Kremlin chose to televise a lengthy opening exchange between Putin and the U.S. envoys.

The Russian leader rejected talk of a possible territorial settlement involving "grey" – or demilitarized – zones between Ukrainian and Russian positions.

"For us, there is only one line of demarcation: the state border. Because then it will be clear and obvious: here are we, and here are you," he said.

Russia has seized swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine since launching its full-scale offensive in 2022. That is in addition to Crimea, which it annexed in 2014, and territory that was under the control of Russian-backed separatists.

Moscow has formally annexed four regions of Ukraine – Donetsk, Kherson, Lugansk and Zaporizhzhia – despite not having full control over them.

The annexations are rejected by Kyiv and the West as illegal and not recognised by the international community.

Advances by Russia's army have slowed throughout 2026 and hundreds of thousands have been killed in the almost five-year conflict, with millions more forced to flee their homes.

Putin proposed organising what he called a "humanitarian mission" to the frontline city of Kostyantynivka, where he said some 400-500 civilians still lived.

Russia claimed in the summer to have captured the city, but Ukraine insists fighting is ongoing for control.

The idea would be modelled on a short-term truce that last month allowed hundreds of stranded and starving locals to flee the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky in southern Ukraine.

Putin also repeated his long-standing objection to any foreign troops being deployed to Ukraine as a post-war peacekeeping force – something Kyiv says is crucial to thwarting another Russian attack.

Moscow would see any foreign troops deployed in the country as a "legitimate target," Putin said, adding their deployment would be a "vicious circle" and mean "the continuation of war."

European countries have been rattled by Russia pushing a review of the entire continent's security architecture, with the U.S. also floating a new framework.

That is widely seen as a reference to Moscow's long-standing demands to push back the NATO military alliance in eastern Europe and end Western military support to Kyiv.

Some 50 European leaders gathered in the Irish capital Thursday, where EU chief Antonio Costa said "there is no need to reinvent the wheel" on Europe's security framework as he accused Russia of wrecking it by attacking Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron meanwhile urged Europe to rally behind a "clear and united vision" on what it wants from Ukraine talks.

Russia and the United States are pushing Europe to name a single representative who they can deal with.

Amid the talks, the death and destruction continued.

Overnight, Russian strikes hit a residential building in Kyiv, killing one person.

In Putin's home city of Saint Petersburg, a car bomb blast killed a Russian soldier – the latest in a string of apparent assassinations of military figures inside Russia.

Zelenskyy also reported fresh restrictions had been placed on the Starshield satellite internet service, key to Ukraine's front line communications.