The United States expects to restore the trilateral negotiating format involving Ukraine, the United States and Russia in the near future. This is reported by UNN, citing Le Figaro.
At the same time, the Kremlin says it does not rule out a new round of talks, although there are currently no specific dates. Against this backdrop, media reports have emerged about a possible resumption of the negotiating process after the elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation, which will take place on September 18–20
Details
On September 5, U.S. President's Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held a more than three-hour meeting in Moscow with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. According to Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov, the sides discussed possible ways to end the war.
After the meeting, the American side reported a "substantive" discussion of further steps, but no specific agreements on a new round of talks were announced.
In describing the visits by American representatives to Moscow and Kyiv, Le Figaro noted that their diplomatic tour did not result in a publicly documented breakthrough.
The following day, September 6, Witkoff and Kushner arrived in Kyiv and held talks with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian delegation. Kushner said that Washington sought to return to a trilateral negotiating format between the United States, Ukraine and Russia and expected progress "very soon." At the same time, the American representatives did not publicly state that Russia would allegedly agree to talks only after the parliamentary elections.
On Sunday, September 7, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also said that Moscow did not rule out resuming talks with Ukraine and the United States. At the same time, he stressed that it was too early to talk about a specific date or venue for a new round.
Where the date after September 20 came from
Earlier, in an interview with The New York Times, Head of the Office of the President Kyrylo Budanov suggested that the negotiating process mediated by the United States could become more active at the end of September, after the elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation scheduled for September 18–20. Budanov noted that the talks should ultimately lead to a certain result and allowed that a new stage of diplomatic contacts could begin with further trips by Witkoff and Kushner.
Therefore, linking the possible resumption of talks to the end of the elections in Russia is currently — a prediction by the Ukrainian side, rather than an officially announced agreement between Moscow and Washington.
Context
After the talks in Kyiv, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the sides had discussed possibilities for resuming the negotiating process, security guarantees for Ukraine and economic support. According to him, territorial issues remain one of the most difficult points and can be resolved only at the leaders' level.
At the same time, no significant changes in Moscow's position have currently been recorded. After meeting with American representatives, Putin again stated the need to achieve the Russian Federation's goals and eliminate the so-called "root causes" of the war.
One of the key stumbling blocks remains Russia's territorial demands, in particular regarding part of Donetsk region that is under Ukraine's control. Kyiv rejects such demands.