On October 20, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia wanted to conduct peace talks with a “legitimate representative” of the Ukrainian authorities who would be able to make decisions on ending the war. Moscow is also expecting Vladimir Putin to meet US representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner following their contacts with Ukraine and Europe.
This was reported by the Russian state propaganda agency TASS.
According to Dmitry Peskov, Russia considers it essential that negotiations to end the war in Ukraine be conducted by a representative of the Ukrainian authorities who “has legitimate powers and is prepared to make the necessary decisions”.
Peskov also said the Kremlin expected to receive information from US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in the near future about their talks with Ukrainian and European representatives.
Moscow hopes the US representatives will be able to personally brief Vladimir Putin on the outcome of those contacts.
The Kremlin said it would announce the location and timing of Putin’s meeting with the US representatives at a later date.
On October 19, US President Donald Trump sharply criticised Volodymyr Zelenskyy, claiming that the Ukrainian president did not want to end the war.
“It’s time for somebody else to negotiate on behalf of Ukraine. Zelensky should have had this war settled a long time ago. If he listened to me, he would have made a much better deal a long time ago,” Trump said.
The US president also spoke positively about Russia’s conduct towards Ukraine and said he intended to continue negotiations with Vladimir Putin.
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy commented on possible talks between Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping without Ukraine’s participation. In an interview with Corriere della Sera, he said Putin was already gradually emerging from international isolation and stressed that decisions concerning Ukraine should not be made without its participation.
“If Ukraine is being discussed, we would like Ukraine to be consulted,” Zelenskyy stressed.
