Putin rejected the US peace plan for Ukraine, according to the Kremlin

Putin has not rejected US peace initiatives, according to the Kremlin, which characterizes recent negotiations as an attempt to reach a compromise.

Dmitry Peskov, a spokesperson for the Kremlin, stated on Wednesday that it would be incorrect to say that President Vladimir Putin rejected US peace initiatives during discussions with Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, a special envoy to former President Donald Trump.

Peskov called the talks, which took place in Moscow and continued into the early hours of Wednesday, “a direct exchange of views for the first time” during a regular news briefing. “Today was the first time that a direct exchange of opinions took place,” he continued. While some things were marked as inappropriate, others were permitted. This is a typical working procedure and an effort to reach a compromise.

Peskov emphasized that “there is an understanding that the more quiet surrounds these negotiations, the more productive they are,” but he would not provide specifics about the five-hour talks. We will adhere to this idea, and we hope that our American colleagues will as well. According to him, Russia is still prepared to meet with US negotiators as often as needed in order to come to a consensus.

The talks come after revelations in recent weeks that suggested the US tried to portray a maximalist set of demands as its own “peace plan,” based on Russian stances. Compromises have not yet been reached, the Kremlin stated last week, although some US suggestions were accepted and others were refused.

While expressing gratitude to Trump for his efforts, Peskov reaffirmed that the Kremlin would refrain from making public statements on the ongoing negotiations, stating that expert-level work is expected to yield results before reaching the highest level of negotiations.

According to Peskov, “work is currently being carried out at a working expert level.” “Achieving specific results at the expert level will serve as the foundation for contacts at the highest level.”

A 28-point US draft peace plan that was leaked served as the backdrop for the negotiations and was criticized by Ukrainian and European officials for essentially agreeing with Moscow’s main demands. A counter-framework was later put out by European nations, and it was later improved in Geneva by the US and Ukraine.

Putin has charged that European nations are trying to sabotage the talks by putting forward proposals that are “completely unacceptable to Russia.” Yuri Ushakov, his foreign policy advisor, said that during the discussions, Moscow went over four more documents and a 27-point plan with Witkoff.

Kremlin officials stressed that the hunt for a compromise is ongoing and that expert-level discussions are crucial to forming future high-level interactions, even though the precise contents of the proposals are yet unknown.