Just hours before key US-Russia talks in Moscow, the Kremlin reiterated its position that any peace deal on Ukraine must resolve what it describes as the “initial causes” or “underlying reasons” for its invasion — shorthand for a longstanding list of demands that has included a halt to NATO expansion, recognition of Russia’s claimed control over occupied Ukrainian regions and the effective end of Ukraine as a sovereign state.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov praised the Trump administration’s mediation efforts as “very effective” ahead of Tuesday’s meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Putin is expected to discuss the understandings reached between Washington and Kyiv as part of ongoing negotiations on Tuesday afternoon.
“(President) Trump’s plan is a very good basis (for a peace settlement), and we hope we can adhere to this basis,” Peskov said, according to state news agency TASS. But he stressed that Moscow will only agree to peace if it secures the objectives of its war in Ukraine which it calls “the special military operation”: “We must achieve our goals, and we must eliminate the initial causes of the military operation that we launched.”
“We want peace,” Peskov added, “Why aren’t we concluding a peace agreement immediately? It is very difficult. There were underlying reasons for our president’s decision to launch the special military operation. And first, we must reach an agreement that addresses those underlying reasons.”
