Kremlin officials have been more tight-lipped than their European, US and Ukrainian counterparts.
However, whenever possible, Russia has sought to cement the impression that Moscow and Washington are aligned on their hopes for the terms of a peace deal.
On Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov praised Trump for trying to broker a deal and said a recent meeting between President Vladimir Putin and US envoy Steve Witkoff at the Kremlin had “eliminated” the “misunderstandings” between the two sides.
The foreign minister also batted off suggestions that Kyiv could be given security guarantees in the form of foreign troops stationed in Ukraine.
“This is yet another return to the sad logic of Zelensky’s so-called peace formula,” Lavrov said, adding that Moscow had handed the US “additional” proposals on collective security and that Russia was ready to give legal guarantees not to attack Nato or EU countries.
But neither Ukraine nor Europe will be likely to take any promise by Moscow at face value, given Russia has previously violated ceasefires and truce deals.
European and Ukrainian officials want the US to be involved in giving security guarantees so that Kyiv doesn’t become the target of renewed attacks.
Zelensky said he had received a draft proposal on American security guarantees but that the draft was a work in progress, suggesting that what has been offered by the US falls short of provisions that could assuage Kyiv’s fears.
“The US does not want Ukraine in Nato. They say this openly… So I do not think they have difficulties discussing Nato with the Russians,” Zelensky said.
Zelensky also said Ukraine had to be “cautious”, adding: “We do not know what other agreements the US may have with Russia. We will learn in time.”
Ukraine’s president also acknowledged that US support for Kyiv may one day end, both in terms of the flow of weapons that the US is selling through other countries and in terms of intelligence sharing.
Reflecting the fraught nature of the talks and his scepticism that Russia was negotiating in good faith, Zelensky told reporters: “No one knows what may happen the day after tomorrow… We do not know how these negotiations will end.”
