The Kremlin said today that US President Donald Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, and a number of other key US officials will arrive in Moscow next week for talks on a possible peace plan for Ukraine, TASS and Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
Trump, speaking to reporters aboard "Air Force One" while flying to Florida for Thanksgiving, said that US negotiators were making progress in discussions with Russia and Ukraine, and that Moscow had accepted some concessions.
The US framework for ending the war, first reported last week, has raised new concerns that the Trump administration may be inclined to force Ukraine to sign a peace treaty in Moscow's favor, points out Reuters.
"As for Witkoff, I can say that a preliminary agreement has been reached that he will come to Moscow next week," Yuri Ushakov, Putin's foreign policy adviser, told the chief reporter of Russian state television in the Kremlin, Pavel Zarubin, TASS reported.
Ushakov said that in addition to Witkoff, "a number of other administration representatives who are involved in Ukrainian issues" would also come to Moscow.
Ushakov also said that the leak of information about a phone conversation between senior Kremlin and US officials was an attempt to hinder negotiations on a possible peace agreement on Ukraine, TASS reported.
Bloomberg reported that Witkoff, in a phone conversation with Ushakov on October 14, said that they should work together on a plan for a ceasefire in Ukraine and that Putin should raise the issue with Trump. The agency added that it had reviewed a recording of the conversation and published its text.
When asked why the content of the conversation was revealed, Ushakov replied: "Probably to hinder. It is unlikely that this was done with the aim of improving relations."