Kremlin Official Asserts Continuation of U.S.-Russia Peace Efforts, Disputing Foreign Ministers Claims

On Thursday, Yury Ushakov, an adviser on foreign policy to the Kremlin, stated that efforts between Russia and the United States to negotiate a peace agreement in Ukraine are still ongoing. This directly contradicts comments made the previous day by a senior diplomat who suggested that the momentum for such a deal has diminished.

On August 15, President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump convened a short summit in Alaska, which was initially presented as a chance to break the deadlock in the peace talks concerning Ukraine.

Nevertheless, the meeting did not lead to any significant progress, and since then, Trump has adopted a more confrontational stance towards Moscow, expressing his disappointment with Putin on several occasions.

On Wednesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told state media that the “momentum” gained from the Alaska summit had been “depleted,” attributing the setback to Ukraine’s European partners who he claimed were hampering efforts between Moscow and Washington to resolve the conflict.

In response, Ushakov, while not specifically naming Ryabkov, argued that it was “completely wrong” to imply that the talks with U.S. officials regarding a peaceful resolution in Ukraine had stalled.

“The agreements reached in Anchorage may not be favored by everyone, particularly those in Europe and the Ukrainian administration,” Ushakov remarked on the state-owned Channel One. “In essence, those who do not desire a peaceful outcome to the Ukrainian crisis are unsatisfied with them.”

Nonetheless, Ushakov emphasized that Russian officials would “persist in cooperating with the Americans” based on the discussions between Putin and Trump in Alaska, highlighting that the two leaders achieved a «significant understanding.»

These conflicting remarks from Moscow arise amid U.S. considerations of supplying long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine, a move that Putin has cautioned could lead to a “whole new level of escalation.”

This week, Trump informed reporters at the White House that he has “almost reached a decision” regarding the deployment of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine due to his frustration over Putin’s unwillingness to engage in direct talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.