Kremlin Calls for Narrowing Differences in Ukraine Peace Talks
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Wednesday that countries involved in peace talks around Ukraine still needed to narrow their differences and that there were "a lot of nuances" that needed to be worked out before any deal could be reached.
The Kremlin made its comments after talks between the U.S., Ukraine and European officials to discuss ending Russia's war in Ukraine faltered on Wednesday as U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio abruptly cancelled his trip to London and negotiations were downgraded.
The downgrading occurred days after U.S. President Donald Trump warned that Washington could abandon its role as a mediator if there was no progress on a deal soon, and after the U.S. presented some ideas for how the conflict could be ended.
Unconfirmed details of those proposals have appeared in various media, but the Kremlin on Wednesday said it would not comment publicly on any of them - some of which it described as "fake news" - and that discussions needed to take place in silence.
"We are also continuing our contacts... but of course there are many nuances around the settlement that need to be worked out, where positions need to be brought closer together and so on. This work is ongoing," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Peskov said Russia was continuing to talk to the U.S. about a possible settlement, but was not in contact with Europe or Ukraine on the subject. Russian President Vladimir Putin remained open to talks with all parties however, he added.
When asked about a possible visit to Moscow by Steve Witkoff, U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy, Peskov said there was nothing concrete to say on the matter for now, but that the Kremlin would announce any news on such a visit.
When asked if Moscow saw increasing pressure from the U.S. for a deal on Ukraine as an ultimatum, Peskov said Moscow did not and that the Kremlin welcomed U.S. mediation efforts.
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
