TASS: Those who say Putin rejected US peace plan are wrong — Kremlin spokesman

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov
Photo: TASS

On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin received US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in the Kremlin, where the two spoke for about five hours about a Ukraine resolution.

The claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected the US peace plan for Ukraine is incorrect, Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media, TASS quotes.

"No, it wouldn't be correct to say so," Peskov said, responding to a question about whether claims that Putin rejected the US peace plan for Ukraine could be considered accurate.

Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on any potential progress in Ukraine talks between Russia and the United States, believing that secrecy is the best policy in this sensitive matter, TASS reports.

"It’s our prerogative to keep a lid on that," Peskov said in response to a question about whether the Russian side had put any tweaks on the peace plan for Ukraine on paper. "The more silence around these talks, the better chance of a good result," he argued, adding that the US negotiators, too, would be wise to follow this principle.

The Kremlin believes that Russia-US talks on resolving the Ukraine conflict are better held in private, and the Americans agree with that, Dmitry Peskov said in a briefing.

"We believe that in this case, it’s better to hold talks in private," he pointed out, when asked if the secret details of the discussions could be made public in the West. "In this case, we don’t support the megaphone-style diplomacy. And we can see that the Americans follow the same principle," Peskov added.

He corrected a reporter who called US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s statement about the main point of contention "a bogus story." "It’s not a bogus story but a statement by the secretary of state," the Russian presidential spokesman stressed.

The US secretary of state said earlier that the focus of talks was on the 20% of the Donetsk People’s Republic’s territory that was still under Kiev’s control.

A telephone call between the Russian and US presidents, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, can be promptly organized at any moment, but the most important thing now is to achieve results at the expert level, Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.

"A telephone call is possible at any time and there is an opportunity of organizing it promptly," Peskov said at a news briefing and referred to statements made earlier by Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov about the work that was underway at the expert level.

"It is at the expert level that certain results should be achieved, which will then form the basis for contacts at the highest level," he added.

The Kremlin is unaware of any foreign journalists wishing to visit the cities of Krasnoarmeysk and Kupyansk that the Russian army has taken control of, Dmitry Peskov said in response to a TASS question.

"We aren’t aware of any [foreign journalists wishing to travel to Krasnoarmeisk and Kupyansk], but we have no doubt that they may appear later," he noted, when asked if the Kremlin was aware of any foreign media workers wishing to visit the two cities in the special military operation zone.

The Kremlin spokesman added that on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin had reiterated his invitation for foreign journalists to come and witness the situation in Krasnoarmeisk and Kupyansk firsthand. "He did invite them, that’s right. He said all those who wanted to visit could come. And they really can do it. Such visits can be arranged if necessary," Peskov specified.

Russian media workers continue to work there, "even though it’s quite dangerous," he added.

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