The US is starting to understand Russia's positions on key issues, including the conflict in Ukraine, a senior Kremlin adviser said, quoted by Reuters, BTA reported.
“It is clear, at least it seems to me that there is an understanding of what we are trying to achieve“, diplomat Yuri Ushakov, a former ambassador to Washington, said on state television.
“To some extent, our demands, our thinking, our proposals are being taken into account. Not all of them. But the process is underway,“ he added. Ushakov said he had seen a move toward improving relations between Washington and Moscow after a breakdown triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
President Donald Trump has softened the stance of the previous administration of President Joe Biden toward Russia, particularly on the conflict in Ukraine.
Some comments by U.S. officials, including Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff, have sometimes appeared to echo the Kremlin's version, Reuters noted. Russia remains committed to Ukraine's full surrender of four southeastern regions that Moscow's forces have partially occupied.
Moscow also says it wants to resolve what it calls the root causes of the conflict, including getting Ukraine to abandon its bid to join NATO and the "denazification" of Kiev's authorities. There has been speculation on both sides that Trump could meet with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, although no date has yet been set. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov this week described a meeting between the two presidents as “certainly necessary” but added that it “must be prepared accordingly.”
Ushakov acknowledged that neither side was likely to be completely satisfied with what the other was saying. “Yes, we probably disappointed them in one way or another. They disappointed us too. Maybe more than we disappointed them,” the Kremlin adviser concluded.