Kremlin Expects Ukraine Talks to Resume Once US Envoys Free From Iran Negotiations
MOSCOW, June 24 (Reuters) — The Kremlin expressed confidence on Wednesday that contacts with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner regarding Ukraine will restart as soon as the two diplomats become available, acknowledging that both are currently occupied with the U.S. negotiating team’s push for a peace deal with Iran.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made the remarks when asked whether alternative envoys might be introduced to keep Ukraine-related discussions moving in the meantime. “We understand that contacts will continue,” Peskov told reporters. “Naturally, they are occupied with other matters right now, but at some point they will become available, and we are counting on further work.”
Peskov struck an unusually appreciative tone, praising the pair’s efforts on Ukraine as “highly constructive.” He noted that both envoys “are willing to listen to all sides — that is especially valuable right now,” implying that Moscow sees Witkoff and Kushner as intermediaries who understand Russia’s position better than other potential U.S. negotiators.
The positive remarks come just days after senior Russian officials accused Washington of failing to follow through on “understandings” that President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump were reported to have reached during their summit in Anchorage, Alaska, last August. Moscow has repeatedly invoked what it calls the “Spirit of Anchorage,” a term analysts interpret as a framework in which Kyiv would withdraw its forces from the remaining parts of the Donbas region not controlled by Ukraine, in exchange for Moscow freezing its advance along other front lines. However, Ukrainian leaders have firmly rejected any territorial concessions, vowing not to cede land “without a fight.”
The delay in direct U.S.-Russia talks over Ukraine, caused by the simultaneous Iran track, has left the diplomatic process in a holding pattern. While both sides publicly express readiness for dialogue, the on-the-ground reality remains one of entrenched positions and sporadic fighting along the roughly 1,000-kilometer front. Witkoff — a former Trump administration official with extensive business ties in the region — and Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, have been central figures in Washington’s shuttle diplomacy, but their current focus on Tehran has given Moscow an opening to frame itself as the more patient party.
Analysts caution that the Kremlin’s warm words may be tactical, aimed at maintaining a cooperative public posture while the U.S. team is stretched thin. “Peskov’s comments are a classic Kremlin play — signal willingness to talk, cast the other side as the bottleneck, and keep the door open for a deal that favors Russia’s maximalist demands,” said one Moscow-based political consultant who declined to be named.
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Andrew Osborn)