The Kremlin declared on Friday that it is prepared to consider fresh American proposals for ending the war in Ukraine, but that Russian forces will continue their military operation to “complete victory” if no acceptable peace terms emerge. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state media that Moscow would await new ideas from Washington, which he described as being pursued sincerely by President Donald Trump and his negotiators. The previous framework agreed at a US–Russia summit in Anchorage had been accepted by Russia but rejected by Ukraine, and Washington had been unable to persuade Kyiv – egged on, Peskov said, by European states.

In parallel, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged this week that the Anchorage plan had failed because it was unacceptable to Ukraine, and that “new ideas and concepts” were needed. According to US and Ukrainian officials cited by the Kyiv Independent, the White House now believes President Vladimir Putin may be more willing to accept at least a partial aerial ceasefire following a wave of long-range Ukrainian strikes on targets near Moscow and St. Petersburg. Ukraine, for its part, faces dwindling interceptor munitions despite domestic production of Patriot systems, while Moscow’s air defences are described as overstretched. The two envoys who conveyed this revised US thinking to President Volodymyr Zelensky – Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner – are expected in Moscow in late July or early August.

Moscow has consistently demanded that any settlement involve a halt to Western arms supplies for Ukraine and a return to what it calls the “Alaska Understandings”, a set of understandings the Kremlin claims were reached at Trump’s summit with Putin in summer 2025. According to those terms, the US would pressure Kyiv to cede control of the Donbas region – a proposition Zelensky’s government has repeatedly called a non-starter. Russia also refuses to take part in negotiations hosted by countries it considers partisan. Western capitals view the Anchorage formula as effectively offering Moscow de facto control of occupied territory while requiring Ukraine to accept a frozen conflict, a stance Kyiv and most European governments have opposed.

The diplomatic track remains highly fluid. Rubio said the US is prepared to play a constructive role if conditions allow, while Zelensky announced a forthcoming meeting with Trump in Washington and spoke of a possible trilateral US–Ukraine–Russia meeting “as early as the fall”. For now, however, Moscow insists that the military operation will continue until its goals are achieved, while Kyiv holds out for security guarantees and refuses territorial concessions. The next practical step is the visit of US envoys to the Russian capital, where they are expected to present a revamped negotiating framework.