Kremlin calls Putin's meeting with US envoys ‘small step towards peace’

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday described the recent meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Moscow as “a small step toward peace.”

Speaking at a press briefing, Peskov said Moscow “truly values” the US negotiators’ peacemaking efforts.

“Certainly, any attempts are more or less effective; it’s one small step toward peace,” Peskov said. “We truly value the peacemaking efforts of the American negotiators very highly.”

Witkoff and Kushner met Putin in Moscow on Saturday as part of US efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war, which has entered its fifth year. They then travelled to Kyiv and met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday, marking their first visit to Ukraine since the war began.

Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said the talks lasted three hours and 10 minutes and covered the war in Ukraine as well as potential major Russian-US projects. He described the meeting as “substantive, constructive and extremely frank.”

Moscow and Kyiv last held peace negotiations under US mediation earlier this year, with three rounds of talks in January and February.

The negotiations have since been paused, with Moscow and Kyiv attributing the halt to the US war with Iran, which began in late February.