Kremlin says it's "premature" to say peace deal with Ukraine is close
A Kremlin spokesperson has watered down expectations that a peace deal is close to being struck to end the nearly four-year-long invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said it's "premature" to say whether the situation in Ukraine was close to a resolution.
Peskov also claimed there are people in other countries, including the United States, "who will try to derail these peaceful developments," when asked about leaks from the negotiations.
The comments come after a Kremlin aide, Yuri Ushakov, had struck a more positive tone regarding the state of the U.S.-backed proposal. Ushakov told a Russian state TV reporter on Wednesday that "some aspects can be viewed positively, but many require special discussions among experts."
Ushakov also confirmed that Russia had been presented with the revised proposal that resulted from high-level talks between U.S. and Ukrainian officials over the weekend, but said Russian officials had not yet met with their American counterparts to discuss it.
"We have not discussed it with anyone yet because it really requires serious analysis, serious discussion," Ushakov added.
Bloomberg on Tuesday published a translated transcript of a call between Ushakov and Kirill Dmitriev, an economic adviser to the Russian president, that indicated Ushakov thought the Russians would get the "maximum" of their demands.
"No, look. I think we'll just make this paper from our position, and I'll informally pass it along, making it clear that it's all informal," Dmitriev said. "And let them do like their own. But, I don't think they'll take exactly our version, but at least it'll be as close to it as possible."
President Trump told reporters on Air Force One Tuesday that U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow next week to discuss the proposal.
Bloomberg on Tuesday night published another transcript of an Oct. 14 phone call between Witkoff and Ushakov in which Witkoff appeared to coach Ushakov on how to negotiate with Mr. Trump, and that Russians expected the proposal between Witkoff and Mr. Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner to be friendly to them.
"Now, me to you, I know what it's going to take to get a peace deal done: Donetsk and maybe a land swap somewhere," Witkoff said, according to the transcript. "But I'm saying instead of talking like that, let's talk more hopefully because I think we're going to get to a deal here. And I think Yuri, the president will give me a lot of space and discretion to get to the deal."
When Mr. Trump was asked Tuesday about the recording, he said he hadn't heard it, but added that Witkoff was being a "dealmaker."
"No, but it's a standard thing, you know, because he's got to sell this to Ukraine," Mr. Trump said. "He's got to sell Ukraine to Russia. That's what he's that's what a dealmaker does. You got to say, look, they want this. You got to convince him of this. You know, that's a very standard form of negotiation. I haven't heard it, but I heard it was standard negotiation. And I would imagine he's saying the same thing to Ukraine, because each party has to give and take."
A U.S. official told CBS News on Tuesday that Ukraine's government had "agreed to a peace deal" brokered by the Trump administration to stop Russia's assault. The American official and Ukraine's national security adviser, Rustem Umerov, said a common understanding on a proposal had been reached, with details still to be worked out.
The response from Russia appears to contradict the optimism expressed by Mr. Trump when he took to his Truth Social platform on Tuesday evening to highlight what he called "tremendous progress" in the negotiations.
"The original 28-Point Peace Plan, which was drafted by the United States, has been fine-tuned, with additional input from both sides, and there are only a few remaining points of disagreement," Mr. Trump wrote.
He added that he is sending Witkoff to Moscow to meet with Putin in hopes of "finalizing" the the peace plan.
Mr. Trump told reporters on Tuesday night that negoitators had "taken each one of the 28 points, and then you get down to 22 points. A lot of them were solved, and actually very favorably solved." He continued that Russia will make concessions, but added "their big concession is they stop fighting and they don't take any more land."
Last week, CBS News obtained a draft of one Trump administration-backed proposal to end the war. The proposed plan included several provisions that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rejected in the past, such as a requirement that Ukraine give up its entire Donetsk region — including parts that aren't occupied by Russia — and that Ukraine end its push to join NATO.