ISTANBUL

The Kremlin on Monday said that an expected meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff will take place in Moscow on Tuesday afternoon.

“Yes, indeed, a meeting with Witkoff is planned for tomorrow,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a press briefing, adding the talks would take place in the afternoon.

Peskov said that footage of the meeting in the Russian capital will be published, but neither confirmed nor denied whether a statement will be issued after the negotiations.

He further said that Putin will hold several non-public meetings on Monday in preparation for Tuesday's meeting, but gave no further details.

On Sunday, Fox News reported, citing a US official, that Witkoff will fly to Moscow on Monday to meet with Putin and discuss the peace proposal for ending the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

Witkoff attended a meeting between the US and Ukrainian delegations in the US state of Florida that same day, where talks focused on determining where a potential peace agreement would establish the de facto border with Russia, according to two Ukrainian officials who spoke to Axios.

During the press briefing, Peskov also declined to comment on whether the peace plan proposal included a clause on Ukraine's non-accession to NATO.

He went on to say that Putin's schedule is currently overloaded, and that a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is scheduled to arrive in Russia on a two-day visit on Monday, is “not yet” scheduled.

Peskov added that the Kremlin cannot share any information regarding ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s stay in Russia.

'Outrageous'

Peskov also commented on an attack against infrastructure belonging to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) in the Russian port city of Novorossiysk over the weekend, describing the strike as "outrageous."

"In this case, it is an outrageous case, since we are talking about an object of international significance and with international participation," Peskov said.

Reaffirming Russia's accusations against Ukraine over the attack, Peskov added that the Kremlin has no information on whether an investigation is underway into the incident.

On Saturday, the CPC announced that unmanned boats damaged one of the single-point moorings at the terminal in Novorossiysk in a morning attack, adding that “loading and other operations” were stopped in accordance with an order issued by local Russian authorities.

Russia accused Ukraine of carrying out the attack on the Black Sea port a day later, with Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova calling for condemnation of the incident, arguing that it threatened “freedom of navigation in this waterway."

Meanwhile, Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry issued a protest that same day over what it described as “another deliberate attack” on the CPC terminal, saying it expected Ukraine to take “effective measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.”

On Sunday evening, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi, in reaction to Astana's statement, said that his country has taken into account Kazakhstan’s concerns regarding CPC infrastructure, adding that none of Kyiv's actions are directed against Kazakhstan or other third parties.

"All efforts of Ukraine are focused on repelling full-scale Russian aggression within the framework of the implementation of the right to self-defense guaranteed by Article 51 of the UN Charter," he added.