US may ask Ukraine to halt attacks before Russia visit, says Kremlin

Washington may ask Ukraine to pause attacks ahead of a visit by US special envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, to Russia, the Kremlin said Friday.

Addressing a briefing, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would not hold direct talks with Ukraine on halting the attacks before the visit.

“The Americans will probably demand that the Ukrainians cease their terrorist attacks,” he said, according to state-run Tass news agency.

Peskov said there are currently no concrete conditions for a peace settlement in Ukraine, adding that the work continues.

He also said Ukraine’s militarization, including plans to produce long-range missiles, would create problems for Ukrainians themselves.

Ukrainian lawmaker Aleksey Goncharenko said on Telegram that Witkoff and Kushner were expected to fly to Kyiv on Sunday after visiting Moscow on Saturday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that he expects Trump’s envoys in Kyiv “in the coming days.”

​​​​​​​Witkoff and Kushner have never visited Kyiv, while both have made several visits to Moscow since the US-mediated talks began. Their last visit took place on Jan. 22, when they met Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin.

Moscow and Kyiv last held peace negotiations under US mediation earlier this year, when they held three rounds of peace talks on Jan. 23-24, Feb. 4-5 and Feb. 17-18. The first two were held in Abu Dhabi, while the third took place in Geneva.

Negotiations have since been paused, with Moscow and Kyiv attributing the halt to the US war on Iran, which began in late February.

Leipzig vs Nord Stream

On Germany, Peskov said Berlin had baselessly accused Russia over the Leipzig incident but had not said a “single word” to Ukraine about the Nord Stream pipeline explosions.

"We have noted that the accusations against the Russian Federation were completely unfounded,” he said. “We categorically reject these accusations and consider them completely empty, lacking any convincing arguments.”

He also emphasized that "Germany took no such actions when those who blew up Nord Stream were caught red-handed."