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

Jerusalem Post/World News/Russia-Ukraine WarNo such talks between Russia and Ukraine have taken place since February, but President Donald Trump sent his negotiators to Moscow and then Kyiv at the weekend in a bid to relaunch the process.Follow us on GoogleRussian President Vladimir Putin, Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov and Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev attend a meeting with US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law, at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, September 5, 2026.(photo credit: SPUTNIK/MIKHAIL METZEL/POOL VIA REUTERS)SEPTEMBER 9, 2026 14:41Russia hopes that US-mediated peace talks on ending the war in Ukraine will resume soon, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.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 at 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, but there was a "confirmed political will" to resume talks.US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin before a joint news conference following their meeting at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, US, August 15, 2025 (credit: SPUTNIK/GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/POOL VIA REUTERS)"We hope that these negotiations will resume in the foreseeable future, and we remain in contact with our American counterparts," he said, a day after Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone.Prisoner exchange a 'constant item' on agenda, Peskov saysPeskov added that the issue of exchanging prisoners between Russia and the US was "a constant item on the agenda," including between the two presidents. He noted that Russia had released one American prisoner, Robert Gilman, at Trump's request last month.The two countries have traded prisoners at several points in the past few years.The biggest such deal was in August 2024, when Russia got back eight prisoners held in the West, including a member of its FSB security service convicted of murder in Germany.In exchange, 16 people were released from Russian and Belarusian jails. Among those freed by Moscow were prominent Russian dissidents and three US citizens, including Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich.Follow us on Google