Overview
- Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Russia and the United States are holding active discussions on a Ukraine settlement grounded in understandings from the August 15 Anchorage meeting.
- Ushakov said those understandings were conveyed to Kyiv and were not accepted, and he claimed many Europeans also oppose them.
- He stated the United States has not officially declared the Anchorage understandings null and void, despite mixed signals from Washington.
- Ushakov said a planned Putin–Trump meeting in Budapest was postponed and that contacts to arrange a follow-up summit are continuing.
- Earlier Western-media leaks alleging U.S. recognition of Crimea and Ukrainian withdrawals in Donbas remain disputed, and Trump later told Volodymyr Zelenskyy Ukraine could retake lost territories with EU help.