Kremlin says no progress made in Ukraine negotiations

Peskov said Moscow continues its “special military operation,” the term Russia uses for the war in Ukraine, but remains open to negotiations.

“As for resuming trilateral negotiations, we are open to it. Yes, we are continuing the special military operation, and our military is working to achieve the set objectives. But we do hope that we will ultimately resume trilateral negotiations,” Peskov said.

US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited Moscow on Sept. 5 for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin before traveling to Kyiv on Sept. 6 for discussions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

While no breakthrough was announced, after the meetings Trump said the Russian president wants to reach a deal to end the war, and suggested a trilateral meeting with Putin and Zelenskyy could take place.

Moscow and Kyiv have also signaled interest in resuming trilateral negotiations, with October discussed as a possible timeframe.

On Russia’s parliamentary election, Peskov said Ukraine launched “massive attacks” during voting in an attempt to disrupt the process. “It constitutes sabotage. It is also an attempt to disrupt these elections. It had no effect,” he said.

Russia’s three-day election for the 450-seat State Duma, the lower house of parliament, ended Sunday amid continuing Ukrainian drone attacks.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Ukrainian forces attempted a mass attack on Russian territory using drones and Flamingo cruise missiles “to disrupt the State Duma election,” adding that Russian air defenses and military aviation destroyed 1,951 drones and eight long-range cruise missiles over a 24-hour period.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said Russia repelled the largest drone attack on the capital to date, with more than 1,600 drones intercepted, including about 450 approaching Moscow.

It was Russia’s first parliamentary election since the war in Ukraine in February 2022, with voting also held in Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine, a move Kyiv and many Western governments reject as unlawful.