Moscow (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov stated on Wednesday that the latest U.S. peace proposal to end the Ukraine war required “serious analysis” by Russia and had not been consulted between U.S. and Russian officials at a gathering in Abu Dhabi this week.
Ushakov stated that Russian intelligence officials had traveled to the Gulf city to meet with Ukrainian counterparts and discuss highly sensitive topics, such as prisoner exchanges. While there, they also met U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, according to a U.S. official who told Reuters on Tuesday.
Ushakov mentioned that the meeting with the U.S. official was unexpected and that the recent U.S.-drafted peace plan was not discussed. He did not reveal the subject of their actual conversation.
“No, the peace plan was not discussed in Abu Dhabi. The peace plan has not yet been discussed in detail with anyone,”
Ushakov told Russian state TV reporter Pavel Zarubin.
“We saw it, it was passed on to us, but there haven’t been any discussions yet.”
What issues require serious analysis according to Kremlin aide?
Ushakov also said that the proposals required
“truly serious analysis, serious discussion”.
“Some aspects can be viewed positively, but many require specialised discussion among experts,”
he said.
“Russia views some aspects of the US peace plan positively, but many require discussion,”
the advisor stated, adding that
“the Europeans are unnecessarily interfering in the peace settlement,”
and
“Russia has unofficially received several versions of the US peace plan, which can even be confusing.”
“Russia and the US are in contact regarding the peace plan, but there have been no serious discussions at the table,”
the Russian advisor said to the media.
How did Ukraine respond to the latest US peace plan?
The most delicate issue—the territorial concessions demanded, especially with regard to areas occupied by Russia—remains problematic, according to Ukrainian officials, who have expressed support for the modified peace deal framework mediated by the United States. They emphasize that in order to complete the deal, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump must carefully address these issues in a possible in-person meeting.
In a report released on Wednesday, a senior Ukrainian source with firsthand knowledge of the negotiations told CNN that there are still big differences between what Ukraine is willing to accept and what the Trump administration is requesting. The report claims that there are still substantial differences on at least three important issues.
