Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly turned down crucial components of a U.S.-endorsed plan aimed at resolving the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Meanwhile, senior Kremlin officials have intensified their warnings to Europe regarding the potential use of frozen Russian assets to aid Kyiv.

According to reports from The Associated Press, Putin expressed his inability to accept certain aspects of the American proposal, particularly those demanding Russia’s withdrawal from territories it currently occupies in Ukraine. These remarks emerged amid a flurry of diplomatic engagements, including meetings in Geneva and Florida, between Ukrainian representatives and U.S. administration envoys.

A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, informed Fox News Digital that both the United States and Russia engaged in a “thorough, productive meeting earlier this week.” The official noted that “several new ideas on how to address the remaining issues have been developed over the past week and continue to be explored by all parties.” Special Envoy Witkoff and Jared Kushner have since briefed President Trump and Ukrainian officials and are slated to meet with Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov today.

In the backdrop of these diplomatic efforts, the aftermath of a Russian drone strike in Odesa has left at least six people injured and inflicted damage on the city’s energy infrastructure.

This latest development follows a series of lethal attacks on Ukraine, with Russian forces reportedly killing a 6-year-old girl in Kherson, according to officials.

The Russian Defense Ministry boasted of footage showing how they were relentlessly pounding Huliaipole with Grad rockets. At least six people were injured in a Russian drone attack on Odesa, which damaged the city’s energy infrastructure, East2West news agency reported. Six more people were wounded from a Russian strike on Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. But Ukrainian drones attacked Nevinnomyssk Azot, a key supplier of explosives and rocket fuel components.

Former Russian President and Security Council Deputy Chair Dmitry Medvedev warned that if the European Union uses frozen Russian state assets to provide financial support to Ukraine, Moscow could treat the move as a justification for war, Reuters reported.

“If the crazed European Union attempts to steal Russian assets, blocked in Belgium, by issuing so-called reparative loans, such actions under international law may be classified as a special kind of casus belli with all the ensuing consequences for Brussels and individual EU countries,” Medvedev said. He added that repayment could come “not through court, but through actual reparations paid in natural form by the defeated enemies of Russia.”

Reuters noted that EU leaders are considering ways to leverage roughly €190 billion, about $221.8 billion, in frozen Russian sovereign assets to help fund Ukraine’s budget and military needs. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said this week that Europe intends to ensure Ukraine “has the means” to defend itself, proposing support totaling about €90 billion, about $105.1 billion, over the next two years.

Former Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (R) warns the EU of war justification as Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) dismisses a major plank of the U.S. Ukraine proposal. (Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)

“We are increasing the cost of Russia’s war of aggression,” von der Leyen said. She added that raising pressure on Moscow should help bring Putin to negotiations, even as Russia signals it is not ready to compromise.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded publicly to the diplomatic momentum, writing on X that Ukraine is preparing additional meetings with American envoys. “Ukraine was heard, and Ukraine was listened to. And that matters,” Zelenskyy wrote. “A dignified peace is only possible if Ukraine’s interests are taken into account.”

He added that any peace effort must combine diplomacy with continued pressure on Moscow. “Everything depends on this combination — constructive diplomacy plus pressure on the aggressor.”

The aftermath of a Russian drone strike in Odesa that injured at least six people and damaged the city’s energy infrastructure. (East2West)

Russia, meanwhile, has continued military operations across Ukraine, according to Associated Press reporting, as both sides prepare for additional negotiations in the United States.

Putin’s rejection of the plan and Medvedev’s warnings to Europe highlight widening diplomatic and military pressure points just as international efforts intensify to find an exit path from the nearly three-year war.