Yury Ushakov, a top aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Oct. 9 that Moscow and Washington remain in constant contact based on the “agreements and understandings” reached during the Trump-Putin Alaska summit on Aug. 15. “We continue working with the Americans on the basis of the agreements reached by the Presidents in Anchorage,” Ushakov told Rossiya 1 TV One on Oct. 9. The Russian and U.S. administrations hold regular consultations, he added.
According to Ushakov, the agreements reached during the Aug.15 summit do not sit well with Kiev and its European backers—"those who do not want the Ukraine crisis to be resolved peacefully.” However, he emphasized that “this does not mean they are not working.”
Both the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Kremlin have referred to a “pause” in dialogue between the U.S. and Russia about settling the Ukraine conflict. RT notes that on Oct. 8, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that the “powerful impetus” for the peace process generated by the Alaska summit had been extinguished, primarily by European “supporters of war.”
On Oct. 9, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov echoed Ryabkov’s statement, remarking that there has been no progress toward finding a peaceful solution to the conflict with Kiev. Russian and Ukrainian delegations met several times earlier this year. During the latest round in Istanbul in July, the sides agreed to set up three working groups to develop a settlement plan addressing political, military, and humanitarian issues.
