The U.S. special envoy’s trip follows talks between Washington and Kyiv in Florida over the weekend.
U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Dec. 2, the Kremlin has said.
“Yes, the meeting with Witkoff is indeed planned for tomorrow. He himself mentioned this yesterday,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Dec. 1, according to Russian state news agency TASS. “The president will also have several closed-door meetings today in preparation for tomorrow’s Russia–US contacts.”
Witkoff and Putin last met in August.
Russian Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik said that the departure of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andrii Yermak, in the midst of a corruption probe in Kyiv was unlikely to have a “negative impact” on discussions, from a Russian perspective.
The Ukrainian delegation lost its lead negotiator, Zelenskyy said on Nov. 28, adding that Yermak had resigned following a home search by anti-corruption investigators.
Government investigators in Kyiv are examining an alleged $100 million corruption scheme involving Ukraine’s energy sector, which has fueled fresh public anger at Kyiv’s wartime government.
Although neither Zelenskyy nor Yermak has been accused of wrongdoing by those leading the investigation, the Ukrainian president’s political opponents have pushed for more accountability of senior leaders in Kyiv’s government.
“Yermak’s withdrawal is unlikely to have a negative impact on the negotiation process,” Russian outlet Isvestia reported Miroshnik saying on Dec.1.
“For six years, while he was participating in the Minsk, Normandy, and other formats, Yermak was constantly playing a game aimed at breaking down the negotiations.”
Miroshnik said that Yermak was presenting the appearance of trying to end the war while failing to deliver results and effectively enabling the continuation of the war.
“In this case, the crisis unfolding in Ukraine provides certain additional opportunities for the country to choose a more pragmatic path rather than continuing to serve the West, which orchestrates Kiev’s actions now,” he said.
Miroshnik’s comments came ahead of Zelenskyy arriving in Paris for further talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, the Ukrainian leader’s second visit to France in as many weeks.
By Guy Birchall
