Russia says it hopes US-mediated talks with Ukraine will resume soon

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov expressed hope that US-mediated peace talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine would resume soon. No such discussions between Russia and Ukraine have occurred since February 2024. However, US President Donald Trump dispatched his negotiators to Moscow and Kyiv recently in an effort to restart the stalled process.

Peskov was replying to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's statement that it might be possible to draft a roadmap to restart the talks and reach a mutually acceptable outcome. A significant divide still exists between Russia and Ukraine regarding how to conclude the four-and-a-half-year conflict, with Kyiv refusing to comply with Moscow's demand to surrender additional territory.

Peskov stated that Moscow would not publicly debate any specifics of a prospective settlement, but there was a confirmed political will to resume the talks. He emphasized that this desire to restart negotiations was evident, as seen through their ongoing communication with American counterparts, following a telephone conversation between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Among the issues discussed is the constant item on the agenda - prisoner exchanges. Peskov confirmed that Russia has released one American prisoner, Robert Gilman, at Trump's request last month. This follows a significant prisoner exchange in August 2024, where Russia returned eight detainees, including a convicted murderer extradited from Germany, for the release of 16 individuals from Russian and Belarusian prisons.

This included prominent Russian dissidents and three US citizens, including Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich.