MOSCOW, Dec 18 (Reuters) – The Kremlin said on Thursday that Russia is preparing for contacts with the United States to obtain details on U.S. negotiations with European powers and Ukraine on a possible peace deal to end the conflict in Ukraine.
Politico reported that US and Russian officials were expected to meet in Miami over the weekend, and that the Russian delegation would include Russian President Vladimir Putin’s investment envoy, Kirill Dmitriev.
When asked about media reports about a meeting in Miami, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that contacts with the United States are planned.
Continues after advertising
‘We are indeed preparing certain contacts with our North American counterparts to receive information about the results of the work that the Americans have done with the Europeans and with Ukraine,’ Peskov said.
The United States has held talks with Russia and, separately, with Kiev and European leaders, on proposals to end the war in Ukraine, but no agreement has been reached.
Putin said on Wednesday that Russia would seize more land in Ukraine by force if Kiev and European politicians did not engage with US proposals for a peace deal.
European leaders say they stand with Kiev and that if Russia wins in Ukraine, one day Moscow will attack a NATO member. The Kremlin has repeatedly rejected allegations that Russia would attack a NATO member.
Russia controls 19.2% of Ukraine, including the Crimean peninsula, which it annexed in 2014, as well as most of the Donbas region, large parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, and small portions of four other regions.
(Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov)
