LONDON and KYIV — The Kremlin’s senior foreign policy advisor, Yury Ushakov, has confirmed that a “preliminary agreement” is in place for U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and possibly Jared Kushner, to visit Moscow next week as part of ongoing efforts toward a potential Ukraine-Russia peace plan, reports Baltimore Chronicle.
In an interview with journalist Pavel Zarubin for the program “Moscow. Kremlin. Putin,” Ushakov stated that meetings are scheduled with Witkoff and emphasized that he would likely be accompanied by other U.S. representatives involved in the Ukrainian dossier. Ushakov also confirmed that Witkoff is expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the visit.
The remarks followed the publication by Bloomberg of excerpts from a purported phone call between Witkoff and Ushakov, in which the envoy appeared to offer guidance to Putin on presenting the Kremlin’s plan to Trump. While Ushakov acknowledged the call, he declined to comment on its contents, describing them as confidential and asserting that the leak was likely intended to undermine ongoing negotiations.
Ushakov stressed that Russia was not responsible for leaking the call, saying, “Someone is leaking them, someone is listening in, but it’s not us.”
Trump had previously confirmed that his envoy would travel to Moscow. He described the negotiation process as standard deal-making, emphasizing the need to balance interests between Ukraine and Russia and to encourage mutual concessions.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials have reported that a 28-point draft peace plan was reduced to 19 points following talks in Geneva, which U.S., European, and Ukrainian representatives described as productive. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Kyiv is prepared to move forward with U.S. support and the personal involvement of President Trump, while acknowledging that sensitive points remain to be discussed.
Following Geneva, a U.S. delegation conducted further discussions with Russian and Ukrainian officials in Abu Dhabi. A U.S. official confirmed that Ukraine has agreed to the new 19-point framework, with only minor details remaining to be finalized.
Trump indicated that potential concessions for Ukraine and Russia are under negotiation, including possible land swaps, and said European countries would be involved in future security guarantees.
Moscow has not officially commented on the new 19-point proposal. However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that significant deviations from prior agreements could create a fundamentally different situation. Ushakov noted that the plan has been shared with Moscow but has not yet been discussed in detail. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov added that it is “too early to say” whether the parties are close to finalizing a deal.
Earlier we wrote that US-Backed Ukraine-Russia Peace Plan Reduced to 19 Points After Geneva Negotiations.
