A senior Russian diplomat said Wednesday Moscow will accept “no question of any concessions” regarding a recent peace deal backed by the US.
Kyiv received the 28-point draft last week, with President Volodymyr Zelensky hinting at “difficult” choices upon its receipt. The points reportedly dropped to 19 after weekend talks with US officials, during which Kyiv signaled agreement on key provisions. The revised version has not been made public.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed the receipt of the revised draft, but the Russian Foreign Ministry has ruled out potential compromises.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said he welcomed the US efforts but said there will be no concessions from Moscow.
“There can be no question of any concessions or any surrender of our approaches to those key moments of solving the tasks facing us, including in the context of the [special military operation] SVO,” Ryabkov said using the Kremlin-approved term for the invasion, according to Russian state media TASS.
The original plan mirrors Moscow’s longstanding maximalist positions, including a cap on Ukraine’s military and a NATO ban, with evidence indicating it originated in Russia rather than Washington.
Ryabkov also reiterated the official Kremlin line that any settlement needs to address the so-called “root causes” of Russia’s invasion, which Moscow said included Ukraine’s NATO bid.
“Over the past few days, we have seen numerous information leaks, attacks, and assaults through the UK media and social networks on the very idea of reaching an agreement, an agreement that would address the root causes of this conflict,” Ryabkov said.
On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump voiced optimism about the apparent progress on the draft, calling it “tremendous” and adding that he thinks “we’re going to get there.”
Trump said he has ordered special envoy Steve Witkoff to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow next week to finalize the US administration’s plan, while US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll would meet with the Ukrainian side.
However, recent recordings released by Bloomberg suggested that Witkoff coached Russian officials – including Ushakov – on packaging their war demands as peace terms for Trump, which supposedly resulted in the 28-point draft.
Ushakov did not deny the authenticity of the recording, while Kirill Dmitriev – an economic adviser to Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin also named in the recordings and believed to be the source of the leak – called the reports “fake.”