Overview
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said contacts on Ukraine are expected to continue once the two U.S. envoys become free and that Russia is counting on further work.
- Peskov described Witkoff and Kushner as highly constructive and said their willingness to listen to all sides has value in the current talks.
- The United States envoys are currently engaged with a separate U.S. team negotiating a possible peace deal with Iran, which Kremlin officials say limits their availability for Ukraine discussions.
- Senior Russian officials earlier accused the United States of not honoring informal 'understandings' from an Alaska summit, a line Moscow and analysts refer to as the 'Spirit of Anchorage.'
- Kyiv has repeatedly rejected any plan that hands territory to Russia, so the pause leaves a temporary diplomatic window but does not resolve the core dispute over Ukrainian territorial sovereignty.