The vast majority of media claims about diplomatic efforts by Russia and the US to resolve the Ukraine conflict are not true, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said.
Speaking to Russian reporters, Peskov stated that while an “enormous number of publications” have written stories on a peace process, it is a rare occasion “if such reports and when such reports correspond to reality.”
Discussions over such a sensitive topic cannot take place publicly, peskov insisted.
“It is only possible in a closed, discrete mode,” the Kremlin representative added.
Commenting on the current state of Russia-US relations, Peskov said that Moscow and Washington “have, first of all, unblocked bilateral relations. Dialogue has gotten underway,” which is “in and of itself, undoubtedly an achievement.”
The official told reporters that Russia and US are exchanging relevant information, with Moscow’s latest decision to declare a Victory Day truce being no exception.
When asked during a press briefing last Monday about media claims of Washington’s reported readiness to officially recognize Russian sovereignty over Crimea, Peskov similarly cautioned that “anonymous claims should be evaluated with utmost caution.” By the same token, “the search for a peaceful resolution must not be conducted publicly,” he said.
During an interview with CBS on Sunday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that US President Donald Trump had never approached Moscow over the status of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant – something that Axios and the Wall Street Journal had previously claimed.
”We cannot speculate on something which is really not being mentioned during the negotiations,” the diplomat stressed.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Politico last week of publishing a “piece of fiction” that was “unequivocally false.” President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, used stronger language, dismissing the same article as “fake crap.”
The piece, citing “five people familiar with the discussions” and published last Wednesday, stated that Washington was considering lifting sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream gas pipeline and “other Russian assets in Europe” as part of its peace efforts. Politico singled out Witkoff as the “main proponent” of the move, while describing Rubio as opposed.