KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Accusations flew as Ukraine and its European partners claimed on Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s interest in peace was merely a facade. This sentiment followed a five-hour dialogue at the Kremlin with U.S. representatives, which yielded no tangible progress.

U.K. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper urged Putin to “end the bravado and violence,” advocating for a sincere commitment to negotiations aimed at achieving a fair and enduring peace. Echoing this sentiment, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha implored Putin not to “waste the world’s time” any longer.

These statements underscore the persistent tension and deep-seated differences between Russia and the coalition of Ukraine and its European allies regarding the resolution of a conflict initiated by Moscow’s invasion nearly four years ago.

Putin, on the previous day, had accused European nations of undermining U.S.-driven peace initiatives and issued a stark warning that Russia was prepared to confront Europe militarily if provoked.

Since the 2022 invasion, European nations, alongside the U.S., have funneled billions into supporting Kyiv both financially and with military aid. Notably, under President Donald Trump, the U.S. has adjusted its stance, emphasizing efforts to bring about an end to the conflict.

On Wednesday, the Kremlin spokesman said he wouldn’t discuss the substance of the talks but pushed back on any suggestion that Putin had rejected the U.S. peace plan.

Where the peace talks go from here depends largely on whether the Trump administration decides to increase the pressure on Russia or on Ukraine to make concessions.

Unclear where peace talks go now

A U.S. peace proposal that became public last month was criticized for being tilted heavily toward Moscow because it granted some of the Kremlin’s core demands that Kyiv has rejected as nonstarters.

Many European leaders worry that if Russia gets what it wants in Ukraine, it will have free rein to threaten their countries, which already have faced incursions from Russian drones and fighter jets, and an alleged widespread sabotage campaign.

Putin met Tuesday in Moscow with Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner. The Russian and American sides agreed not to disclose the substance of the talks, but at least one major hurdle to a settlement — the fate of four Ukrainian regions Russia partially seized and occupies and claims as its own — remains.

After the talks, Yuri Ushakov, a senior adviser to Putin, told reporters that “so far, a compromise hasn’t been found” on the issue of territory, without which, he said, the Kremlin sees “no resolution to the crisis.”

Ukraine has ruled out giving up territory that Russia has captured.

Asked whether peace was closer or further away after these talks, Ushakov said: “Not further, that’s for sure.”

“But there’s still a lot of work to be done, both in Washington and in Moscow,” he said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that it was “not correct” to say that Putin had rejected the U.S. peace plan. He declined to comment further on the talks.

“We’re deliberately not going to add anything,” he said. “It’s understood that the quieter these negotiations are conducted, the more productive they will be.”

Europeans step up assistance for Ukraine

Foreign ministers from European NATO countries, meeting in Brussels on Wednesday, showed little patience with Moscow.

“What we see is that Putin has not changed any course. He’s pushing more aggressively on the battlefield,” Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said. “It’s pretty obvious that he doesn’t want to have any kind of peace.”

Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen struck the same note. “So far we haven’t seen any concessions from the side of the aggressor, which is Russia, and I think the best confidence-building measure would be to start with a full ceasefire,” she told reporters.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Ukraine’s partners will keep sending it military aid to ensure pressure is maintained on Moscow.

“The peace talks are ongoing. That’s good,” Rutte said.

“But at the same time, we have to make sure that whilst they take place and we are not sure when they will end, that Ukraine is in the strongest possible position to keep the fight going, to fight back against the Russians,” he said.

Canada, Germany, Poland and the Netherlands announced that they will spend hundreds of millions of dollars more together to buy U.S. weapons to donate to Ukraine.

This year, European countries in NATO and Canada began buying American weapons for Ukraine under a financial arrangement known as the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List, or PURL.

The war claims more lives

Russia and Ukraine are engaged in a grim war of attrition on the battlefield and are using drones and missiles for long-range strikes behind the front line. Many analysts have noted that the slow slog favors Russia’s larger military, especially if disagreements between Europe and the U.S. or among Europeans hampers the delivery of weapons to Ukraine.

Russian drones hit the town of Ternivka in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, killing two people and injuring three more, the head of the regional military administration, Vladyslav Haivanenko, said Wednesday.

Two people were in critical condition, he said, after the attack destroyed one house and damaged six more.

Overall, Russia fired 111 strike and decoy drones at Ukraine overnight, Ukraine’s air force said.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Wednesday that air defenses destroyed 102 Ukrainian drones overnight.

Falling drone debris sparked a fire at an oil depot in the Tambov region, about 200 kilometers (120 miles) south of Moscow, local Gov. Yegveniy Pervyshov said.