Kremlin Says It Doesn't Rule Out Resuming Trilateral Russia-Ukraine-US Talks After Envoys' Kyiv Visit

September 7, 2026 — A day after US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner completed their first-ever Kyiv visit (following over three hours of talks with Putin in Moscow), Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Russia 'does not rule out the resumption of this trilateral format' with Ukraine and the US, but that 'it is still too early to speak of the venue and exact dates.' Peskov called any such steps 'a small step towards peace' and said Putin 'holds President Trump's efforts in high regard,' while noting Moscow had not yet received full details of the Kyiv talks. The comments came as Trump was expected to call Putin first, then Zelensky, for a debrief from his envoys — a sequencing Kyiv-aligned commentators noted departs from past practice — a day after Zelensky said 'we expect the war will continue' absent a breakthrough on the core dispute over a Ukrainian withdrawal from Donbas, which Russia continues to demand and Kyiv continues to refuse.