Dec 23 (Reuters) – Talks between Russia and the United States in Miami on ways to resolve the conflict in Ukraine should not be seen as a breakthrough, the Izvestia news outlet cited Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying in remarks published on Tuesday.
“This is a working process,” Peskov said, when asked whether the negotiations that took place in Miami on December 20-21 could be seen as a turning point.
Over the weekend, U.S. officials held parallel meetings in Miami on possible terms to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, now nearing its four-year anniversary. The talks involved Ukrainian and European counterparts and separate meetings with Kirill Dmitriev, a Kremlin envoy who heads Russia’s sovereign wealth fund.
U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff has described the discussions as “productive and constructive,” though key issues including territory and security guarantees remain contentious.
Peskov told Izvestia the discussions were expected to continue in a “meticulous” expert-level format and that Russia’s priority was to obtain from the United States details of Washington’s work with Europeans and Ukrainians on a possible settlement.
He said Moscow would then judge how far those ideas matched what he called the “spirit of Anchorage.”
In August, U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Anchorage, Alaska, where they discussed possible parameters including territory and security guarantees and agreed to keep experts engaged and channels open as efforts continued to end the war.
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Chris Reese and Matthew Lewis)
