United States negotiators arrived in Moscow on Thursday as one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top foreign policy aides criticized the proposed ceasefire deal.
Yuri Ushakov, a former Russian ambassador, confirmed in a television interview that he had spoken to U.S. national security adviser Mike Waltz and set out Russia’s view on the 30-day ceasefire proposal.
“I have stated our position that this is nothing other than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military, nothing more,” Ushakov told Russian media, adding that Russia was seeking a long-term settlement that took its interests and concerns into account.
“A 30-day temporary ceasefire. Well, what does it give us? It gives us nothing. It only gives the Ukrainians an opportunity to regroup, gain strength and, to continue the same thing.”
Asked if that meant Moscow was rejecting the proposal, Ushakov said that the president would likely speak to the media later on Thursday and outline Russia’s position in more detail.
“Earlier on Thursday, the Gulfstream G650 jet took off from Doha’s Hamad International Airport. At around 11:40 Moscow time, the plane entered Russian airspace from the direction of Latvia,” TASS reported.
Witkoff had been in Qatar for negotiations on extending the cease-fire in Gaza.
Peskov also said that the United States had provided some information to Russia about a proposed cease-fire for Ukraine and would continue to do so in face-to-face talks in the coming days.
Separately, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow was ready to talk to Washington about a peace initiative discussed between the United States and Ukraine, and contacts would begin imminently.
“We are ready to discuss the initiatives set out there in future contacts with the United States. Such contacts are already possible as early as today,” Zakharova said.
After talks with top U.S. diplomats in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, Kyiv said it was ready to accept a 30-day ceasefire. The United States said it was putting the proposal to Moscow.
“We urge the Russians to sign on to this plan,” Leavitt said. “This is the closest we have been to peace in this war. We are at the 10th-yard line, and the president expects the Russians to help us run this into the end zone.”
Earlier on Wednesday, during a meeting with Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Micheál Martin, Trump said members of his administration were on their way to Russia.
Witkoff is a longtime friend of Trump from his years in the real estate business. He still runs a commercial real estate firm in New York City and has no foreign policy background, but has already been instrumental in brokering a ceasefire in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio declined to provide details about the timeline of Witkoff’s trip when speaking to reporters on Mar. 12.
He suggested some specifics of the negotiations are kept private to facilitate deal-making.
Ukrainians are demanding the return of all prisoners of war, among other humanitarian aid requests, according to Rubio.
“There are areas of Ukraine that have been badly damaged that require immediate assistance,” he said. “These are the sorts of things that we talked about as being inclusive in the negotiation process.”
Moscow has pressed ahead on the battlefield and said on Thursday there was no doubt its troops would soon completely clear Ukrainian forces from Russia’s Kursk region, where they have held territory for more than seven months.
