Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov, in an interview with the outlet Izvestia, stated that Moscow remains open to the negotiation process on a Ukrainian settlement and hopes to hold a new trilateral meeting involving Russia, Ukraine, and the US in the near term. According to him, the relevant agreement has already been discussed with American negotiators. This is reported by RBC-Ukraine.
“The foreseeable future” and Moscow's conditions
“We maintain our openness to negotiations. We hope that, as was said with the American negotiators, in the foreseeable future we will be able to gather again as a trio and continue the dialogue,” RBC-Ukraine quotes Peskov. At the same time, the Kremlin spokesman emphasized that it would be “difficult” to predict the possible outcomes of such a meeting, since, in his assessment, “each time the situation on the ground is getting worse for Ukrainians.” Peskov also reminded that Russia's position and its conditions are “well known,” and the “root causes of the conflict” voiced by the Russian side need to be eliminated.
Putin–Trump meeting in China: no final decision
Commenting on the possibility of a personal meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump on Chinese territory, Peskov reported that there are as yet no final agreements on this matter. Earlier, as RBC-Ukraine recalls, it was already reported that Putin, Trump, and Xi Jinping were discussing a possible meeting: Peskov then named an approximate time and place, but no final decision was made. It was separately noted that Trump is ready to meet with Putin but puts forward certain demands related to Ukraine's position.
Kyiv's position and Zelensky's role
In response to a question about possible attempts by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to influence Trump's position ahead of a potential meeting of the two leaders, Peskov stated that the American president has “formed his own vision of the relationship with Putin,” which, in his words, “is unlikely to be adjusted by anyone.” Against this backdrop, reports appeared in the Ukrainian press that Zelensky, in turn, voiced his own ideas about the format and location of the next trilateral meeting of Ukraine, the US, and Russia, indicating a divergence in the parties' assessments of the conditions and venue for dialogue.
Contradictory data
The statements of the parties show a number of inconsistencies. On the one hand, Peskov claims that the agreement on a new trilateral meeting “has already been discussed with the American negotiators” and will take place “in the foreseeable future,” which creates the impression of being close to a specific format. On the other hand, the same Kremlin spokesman directly acknowledges that on the issue of a personal Putin–Trump meeting in China “there are as yet no final agreements,” and that predicting the outcomes of the dialogue is “difficult.” In addition, the Ukrainian side (citing Zelensky) operates with its own proposals on the location of the meeting, while the Kremlin emphasizes the “root causes of the conflict,” which, in Peskov's wording, “need to be eliminated” before a full-fledged dialogue can continue. Thus, although the fact of the intention to continue negotiations is confirmed by both sides, the specific parameters — timing, location, agenda, and conditions — remain a matter of differing interpretations.
Context: why the Kremlin assesses the US approach as “new”
RBC-Ukraine previously wrote separately that the Kremlin reacted with satisfaction to a change in tone in Washington's approach to negotiations on Ukraine. According to the outlet, the Russian side interprets the current rhetoric of the American administration as more constructive compared to the previous stage. Nevertheless, as Peskov emphasizes in his latest interview, there is still a long way to go before a real shift in the format and content of the meeting: as of now, neither the date, nor the venue, nor the final composition of participants in the trilateral format has been officially fixed.
