Russia says it hopes US-mediated talks with Ukraine will resume soon

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia hopes US-mediated peace talks on ending the war in Ukraine will resume soon, citing a "confirmed political will" to restart negotiations. No such talks have taken place since February, but President Donald Trump sent negotiators to Moscow and Kyiv over the weekend to relaunch the process. A huge gulf remains between Russia and Ukraine on how to end the 4-1/2-year war, with Kyiv rejecting Moscow's demands that it give up more territory. Peskov added that prisoner exchanges between Russia and the US were a constant item on the agenda.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that Russia hopes US-mediated peace talks on ending the war in Ukraine will resume soon, citing a "confirmed political will" to restart negotiations. No such talks between Russia and Ukraine have taken place since February, but US President Donald Trump sent his negotiators to Moscow and then Kyiv over the weekend in a bid to relaunch the stalled process. Peskov was responding to a comment by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that it may be possible to draw up a roadmap to restart talks and work towards an acceptable outcome for both sides. A huge gulf remains between Russia and Ukraine on how to end the 4-1/2-year war, with Kyiv rejecting Moscow's demands that it give up more territory. Peskov said Moscow would not publicly discuss any specifics of a potential settlement. He added that the issue of exchanging prisoners between Russia and the US was "a constant item on the agenda," including between Trump and Putin, who spoke by phone a day earlier. Peskov noted that Russia had released one American prisoner, Robert Gilman, at Trump's request last month. The article is a Reuters wire report, using neutral, fact-led prose with attributed statements throughout.