MOSCOW, June 9 – Russian officials announced Tuesday that no phone conversation is currently scheduled between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. He noted that American negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are continuing their diplomatic communications with both Russian and Ukrainian officials.
The two American mediators had been working on diplomatic efforts between the warring nations, but those initiatives came to a halt in February when the United States and Israel launched military operations against Iran.
“The mediation process on Ukraine is currently on hold. That said, U.S. negotiators are maintaining contacts — discussions are continuing with us through existing channels and with the Ukrainians. There is no exact date for their visit yet, but we would be delighted to welcome them in Russia at any time,” Peskov stated.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy described his Monday discussion with Witkoff and Kushner as “positive” and commended their willingness to pursue a resolution to the Ukraine conflict in the upcoming weeks.
The Kremlin spokesman confirmed that Russian officials had not received notification about that conversation from American representatives.
When questioned about possible European involvement in mediation, Peskov characterized such participation as “unacceptable” from Russia’s perspective.
“First of all, starting mediation efforts by putting forward certain conditions to Russia is likely illogical and wrong… But the main thing is that, as far as we can see, the Europeans are far more inclined to focus on continuing the war rather than on peace talks,” he explained.
