Moscow comments on White House peace talks claim
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said he has no information that a deal ending the Ukraine conflict is just days away, as claimed by the White House, RBK business daily has reported
Peskov made the remarks on Monday in response to a question about White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s statement that US President Donald Trump was optimistic a peace agreement could be reached soon.
“I believe there will be some clarifications from my colleague in Washington,” Peskov stated. “I do not have such information at the moment,” he replied when asked about possible prerequisites for ending the hostilities and whether the issue was being discussed at the highest level or between Russian and US representatives.
Leavitt told reporters on Saturday that the Trump administration remains committed to swiftly resolving the conflict. She claimed that “the president is very confident [that] we can get it done this week,” without providing further details.
Leavitt’s comments followed high-level talks between US and Russian delegations in Saudi Arabia, aimed at restoring bilateral ties and paving the way for a Trump-Putin summit, as well as settling the Ukraine conflict. The negotiations notably excluded Ukrainian and EU representatives.
Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday, Trump said he believed that “we are pretty close” to a deal on Ukraine.
Peskov welcomed remarks by White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, who stated on Monday that Washington is carrying out a complete overhaul of its approach to the Ukraine conflict and relations with Moscow.
Trump escalated his criticism of Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky in an interview with Fox News on Friday, suggesting the latter was an obstacle to any agreement with Russia. He also said it is “not very important” to have Zelensky at meetings at all.
According to Peskov, Trump’s statements could be viewed as an attempt to examine the root causes of the conflict. He expressed hope that Washington would conduct a “comprehensive” analysis.
“This is precisely what we have always tried to draw our opponents’ attention to in Europe, and what they have consistently refused to do – just like the previous administration in Washington,” the spokesman stated.
He emphasized that without a “deep analysis and understanding of the root causes,” achieving a “meaningful resolution” would be virtually impossible.
Russia has repeatedly argued that the conflict was provoked by NATO’s expansion toward its borders and has ruled out the freezing hostilities, insisting on a permanent resolution. Moscow maintains this could be possible if Ukraine commits to neutrality, demilitarization, and denazification and recognizes the territorial realities on the ground.
