Ukraine peace talks must stay confidential – Kremlin

Public debate over the negotiations’ specifics could be detrimental to a positive outcome, spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said

Public discussion of the details of Ukraine peace negotiations could harm the process, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday when asked what compromises Russia might be prepared to offer.

Last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told NBC News that Moscow was ready to “show some flexibility” on Ukraine after the recent Alaska summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump. US Vice President J.D. Vance later told the same program that Trump’s “energetic diplomacy” had convinced Moscow to offer “significant concessions.”

Peskov reiterated Russia’s stance that the Putin-Trump talks marked a diplomatic breakthrough but stressed that Moscow intends to keep the negotiations confidential.

”Talking about the specifics publicly and outside of the broader context of the conflict would hardly be beneficial for our common goal. We believe such work should be done privately, if we are to produce results,” he said.

Lavrov was repeatedly pressed on NBC’s Meet the Press about whether Putin would commit to direct talks with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky. The foreign minister reminded the host that Putin had not ruled out such a meeting, but insisted it would need to be meaningful.

”Yes, he [Putin] is ready to meet, but no, we cannot meet just for him [Zelensky] to have a picture and to say that, ‘now I am legitimate’,” Lavrov said.

Russia’s top diplomat was referring to the expiration of Zelensky’s presidential mandate last year. Moscow has raised questions about the legality of any international agreements he might sign.

Peskov reinforced Lavrov’s remarks, saying any top-level contacts between Russia and Ukraine “need to be properly prepared to be resultful.” He added that Russia “remains committed to resolving the Ukraine conflict, preferably through peaceful political-diplomatic means.”

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