The Kremlin said on Monday, Sept. 7, that it does not rule out resuming trilateral peace negotiations with Ukraine and the United States following weekend visits to Moscow and Kyiv by US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
Local outlet Ukrainska Pravda, citing Russian agencies Interfax, TASS and RBC, said that Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the format could return.
“We also do not rule out resuming this trilateral format, but it is still too early to discuss the venue and exact dates,” Peskov said, offering no specifics such as venue or date.
His remarks followed Witkoff and Kushner’s meetings with Russian and Ukrainian officials over the weekend as Washington attempts to revive stalled negotiations aimed at ending Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Peskov also declined to disclose details of any new US proposals or identify the main unresolved issues, according to Reuters.
He also left open the possibility of another telephone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump.
The Kremlin spokesperson said any effective diplomatic effort represented a small step toward peace and claimed Moscow valued the US administration’s attempts to mediate.
US envoys shuttle between Kyiv, Moscow
Witkoff and Kushner met Putin in Moscow on Saturday, Sept. 5. The White House described the talks as substantive and said further steps were expected in the coming weeks without disclosing details of the closed-door conversations.
Putin aide Yury Ushakov said after the meeting that the Russian leader remained confident Moscow would achieve the objectives of its war against Ukraine, with Putin having previously vowed to capture eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region in its entirety.
The two US envoys traveled to Kyiv the following day for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and senior officials.
The negotiations in Kyiv consisted of three rounds, with national security advisers from France, the UK and Germany joining at a later stage.
Zelensky said the parties discussed new ideas for advancing the diplomatic process and agreed to prepare another meeting involving Ukraine, the US and European partners, but offered no details on what the US envoys brought to the discussion.
Witkoff said the purpose of the diplomatic mission was to bring the two sides closer and establish channels for further talks. Kushner cautioned that there was no guarantee the war would end before winter.
Moscow said it had not yet received detailed information about the US envoys’ talks in Kyiv.