Russian President Vladimir Putin and Yuri Ushakov. Credit line: Ramil Sitdikov / AFP / Profimedia
Russian President Vladimir Putin's top foreign policy adviser said on Sunday he was convinced that the chances of peace in Ukraine had not been improved by changes to the US proposals by the Europeans and Ukraine, according to Interfax and Reuters.
“It's not a forecast,” Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov told the media.
“I am sure that the proposals that the Europeans and the Ukrainians have made or are trying to make certainly do not improve the document and do not improve the possibility of achieving long-term peace.”
European and Ukrainian negotiators have discussed changes to a set of US proposals for a deal to end the nearly four-year war, although it is unclear exactly what changes were made to the original US proposals.
US negotiators met with Russian officials in Florida on Saturday.
Putin's special envoy Kirill Dmitriev told reporters after meeting with US special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner that talks had been constructive and would continue on Sunday.
Ukraine negotiations: Putin's emissary announced he was off to Miami and posted a special emoji
The US has proposed the organization of the first face-to-face negotiations between Ukraine and Russia in the last six months, in Miami, where new talks aimed at ending the war will take place, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday.
Volodymyr Zelensky did not rule out the possibility, but said he was “not sure” the format would lead to “new results”. On the other hand, he believes that direct talks between the representatives of Russia and Ukraine could lead to an exchange of prisoners or an agreement for a meeting of the three leaders: Putin, Trump and Zelensky.
