The Kremlin said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had accepted some, but not all, of the United States’ proposals to end the war in Ukraine on Dec. 3.
“This is a normal working process of seeking a compromise.”
He said that the Kremlin would not be giving a running commentary on how the talks were progressing.
“In this case, we are not proponents of megaphone diplomacy, and we also see that the Americans adhere to the same principle.”
“It is at the expert level that certain results should be achieved that will then become the basis for contacts at the highest level,” he said.
Peskov’s statements come on the heels of a meeting involving Witkoff and Kushner on the American side, and Putin, his top foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, and the Russian presidential representative for investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries, Kirill Dmitriev, on the other side, in Moscow on Dec. 2.
“There is still a lot of work to be done,” Ushakov said.
However, Ushakov acknowledged that during the meeting, officials discussed the so-called “territorial problem,” Russia’s terminology for its claims to the whole of the Donbas region. Ukrainian forces currently control at least 1,900 square miles of the area.
“Some American draft proposals look more or less acceptable, but they need to be discussed,” Ushakov said. “Some of the formulations that have been proposed to us are not suitable for us, that is—the work will continue.”
“There are no other negotiations [other than with the U.S.] underway at the moment,” he said.
“The Ukrainians have refused—at least for now—to continue the Istanbul rounds of negotiations.
“Right now, if we’re talking about contacts, then contacts are being conducted exclusively between Washington and Moscow.”
“The Europeans are refusing all contact,” he said, “although Putin has repeatedly said: if any of the European leaders want to talk, please, welcome, come to Moscow.”
Neither Witkoff nor Kushner has yet commented publicly on the meeting, but Kyiv says that they have been in contact with the U.S. special envoy in the wake of the Moscow talks.
“There was contact between the head of the Ukrainian delegation and Mr. Witkoff,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in Brussels on Dec. 3.
“Representatives of the American delegation reported that, in their opinion, the talks in Moscow had a positive outcome … and they invited the Ukrainian delegation to continue our talks in America in the near future.”