The Kremlin indicated that “compromises have not yet been found” to end the almost four year-long war in Ukraine following a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump administration negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on Wednesday.

The development came after Witkoff and Kushner met with Putin and a Russian delegation in Moscow “into the early hours of Wednesday morning,” with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stating that some U.S. proposals were accepted, while others “were marked as unacceptable.” The meeting took place in the wake of a 28-point peace plan drafted by the U.S. that was leaked on November 19, which was quickly rejected by Ukraine and European officials as heavily favoring Russian demands. The U.S. and Ukraine then drafted an “updated and refined peace framework,” but Putin rejected the proposal, blaming European officials for “interfering with President Trump.”

As negotiations to end Russia’s war on Ukraine continue to stall, Putin indicated Tuesday that his country was prepared for a wider war if necessary. Responding to a question about NATO troop preparations, the Russian autocrat remarked, “We’re not going to war with Europe — I’ve said this a hundred times already — but if Europe suddenly wants to fight us and starts the war, we’re ready right now.”

Still, the Kremlin did indicate that it would continue to seek an agreement with the U.S. to end the war. “[T]his is a normal working process of finding a compromise,” Peskov contended. “Work is currently being carried out at a working expert level. It is at the expert level that certain results should be achieved that will then become the basis for contacts at the highest level.”

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022 has resulted in the largest and most destructive conflict in Europe since World War II. Approximately 400,000 Ukrainian military servicemembers have been killed or injured, with over 14,000 civilians killed. On the Russian side, roughly 800,000 military personnel have been killed or injured. Currently, Russia occupies about 20% of Ukraine’s territory, but has made insignificant gains since the end of 2024.

Lawmakers like Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) say that Russia will continue to slow-walk peace talks indefinitely to their advantage.

“[I]t appears that Russia is going to continue to push the envelope,” he argued during “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins” Tuesday. “Now, they want Ukraine to give up territory that Russia is not even currently occupying. But at the same time … the world’s losing thousands of people every week in that war. And I think as time goes on, Ukraine’s leverage becomes less and less. So it is a really difficult conundrum. … [T]he Russians are not to be trusted in any way, shape, or form. I think we have to have an eye towards the future of what Russia might do once it’s emboldened with whatever gains it makes in Ukraine, and we’ve got to be thinking about that [with] any agreement that we come to with Russia over Ukraine, but also involving the rest of Europe.”

Perry, who serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee as well as the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, went on to contend that Putin may eventually overplay his hand by pressing the war in Ukraine indeterminately.

“We definitely want peace,” he underscored. “We want peace for the European continent, for the Ukrainian people, for the Russian people that really don’t want to be involved in this war. … [W]e simply cannot let Vladimir Putin continue to profit from this aggressive action that was taken unilaterally and unjustifiably. At some point, I think even he will push the limit of what’s achievable. And so, the question is, does he want to continue grinding down [his] soldiers in this war?”

Perry further observed that the secondary sanctions that the Trump administration has levied against countries that continue to purchase Russian energy will eventually be effective in hurting Moscow’s war effort. “I think it will take some time, particularly with India, but I think they will have an effect,” he asserted.

But as the Pennsylvania congressman concluded, the continued see-sawing of Democratic and Republican administrations being voted into power has significant consequences on the global stage. “[D]uring the Biden administration, they were encouraging other countries to buy Russian oil at the same time they were funding the war with American tax dollars,” he highlighted. “So Russia look[s] at American policy, and I imagine they shake their heads sometimes and they think, ‘If we can just wait this out, we’ll get new management there and get away with whatever we want to.’”

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins concurred. “We have to have consistency in our government because the world takes notice, and part of that is having a set standard, regardless of who the party is and holding them accountable to that standard,” he concluded.