Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff assured key partners in the peace talks to end the Ukraine war that Russia is “fully committed to peace,” even as the Kremlin is signaling dissatisfaction with President Donald Trump‘s peace proposal.
U.S., Russian, Ukrainian, and European negotiating teams descended on Miami, Florida, this weekend for the latest round of peace talks. After those meetings concluded, Witkoff hailed both the U.S.-Ukraine and U.S.-Russia sit-downs as “productive and constructive.”
He said the meeting with Ukraine specifically touched on “further development” of Trump’s peace proposal, security guarantees, and an economic recovery plan. But in a separate statement, Witkoff did not disclose any details of the meeting with Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev beyond maintaining that the Kremlin “remains fully committed to achieving peace in Ukraine.”
The difference is notable because just before the negotiations ended on Sunday, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov made the stunning suggestion that Moscow may pass on Trump’s peace proposal no matter what.
“I think that the majority of offers will not work for us because we will stick to the plan that we have decided on in Anchorage and at the other meetings with the American representatives,” Ushakov said, referring to the Alaska summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin last summer.
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It was a surprising remark, as the highly anticipated Alaska summit seemed to yield little in terms of progress toward peace — let alone any sort of proposal. But Ushakov revealed the primary problem with Trump’s peace plan is the changes made by Ukraine and Europe. He signaled Moscow will look over them regardless when Dmitriev returns.
“We will discuss all of this here and see what we can accept and what we categorically can’t,” Ushakov said. “After that we will work out a position to move forward, including contacts with Americans.”