Peskov Warns Against Premature Conclusions on Possible Ukraine Peace Deal

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov urged against drawing early conclusions about the potential end of the war in Ukraine, Orda.kz reports, citing TASS.

According to him, “many different people in different countries, including the United States, will try to disrupt attempts to reach a peace agreement.”

But it's clear that there will be a very large number of people in various countries, including the United States, who will try to disrupt these peaceful development,Peskov said.

Peskov linked recently leaked recordings to such efforts, but warned not to overstate the significance of the publications.

His remarks came after Bloomberg released recordings of conversations between Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov, Trump’s special representative Steve Witkoff, and RDIF head Kirill Dmitriev, which discussed the terms of a possible Ukraine settlement. 

Dmitriev responded by calling Bloomberg’s material “fake.”

Against that backdrop, Yuri Ushakov told Kommersant that while some of his communications take place over secure government channels, his conversations with Kirill Dmitriev and Steve Witkoff may have been conducted via WhatsApp.

There are certain conversations on WhatsApp that, generally speaking, someone could potentially listen in on, he acknowledged.

Speculation is now focused not only on the content of the leaked calls, but on who intercepted them — an act considered highly unusual given their sensitivity. 

Analysts note that several intelligence services, from U.S. agencies to Russian, Ukrainian, or even European services, could have obtained the recordings. Each would have had very different motives and risks in leaking them — from undermining Steve Witkoff’s role in negotiations to exposing back-channel talks between Moscow and Washington.

Ukraine or European agencies may have had the strongest political motive, while U.S. intelligence remains a silent but plausible source. Russian agencies could have been behind it, yet exposing their own has little plausibility.

More Details Beyond Peace Talks 

According to U.S. officials cited by WSJ, during one of the documented conversations, Witkoff advised Moscow to call Donald Trump before Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Washington, suggesting this could influence U.S. weapons policy.

The transcript published by Bloomberg reflects this recommendation.

Ushakov has previously stated that during the call on October 16, Vladimir Putin warned Trump that supplying Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine “would not change the situation on the front, but would damage U.S.–Russian relations.”

Sources speaking to WSJ claim this conversation became the decisive factor after which Trump refused to support providing Tomahawks to Kyiv.

Trump has not denied the authenticity of the leaked transcript, saying Witkoff was “doing normal diplomatic work,” and suggesting his envoy may have presented similar arguments to Ukraine.

Yury Ushakov declined to discuss the content of the leaked call, but confirmed frequent communication with Witkoff, adding: