The Kremlin on Tuesday dismissed unconfirmed media reports claiming a business jet en route from Washington to Moscow was carrying White House officials.
“There’s no information on that, and no contacts are planned,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked about the reports, adding that Russian and U.S. officials are still engaged in talks about the war in Ukraine.
“This is happening as the administration in Washington gets its operations in order,” Peskov said. “But when it comes to the Ukraine [peace] settlement specifically, there’s nothing to report.”
Earlier, Russian media reported that a Gulfstream G650ER business jet flew from Washington to Moscow and landed at Vnukovo Airport.
Telegram news channels with purported links to Russia’s security services claimed the jet was connected to Steven Witkoff, U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East.
The investigative outlet IStories, citing U.S. public records, reported that the plane is owned by a company registered at a Florida address associated with Witkoff. It added that Trump had previously been photographed next to the plane and used it for flights to Paris, Orlando and Texas before his re-election in November.
Russia’s civil aviation authority Rosaviatsiya told state media that the flight was a “one-time technical flight… as part of routine humanitarian cooperation.”
Last week, pro-Kremlin media falsely reported that Trump had appointed Witkoff as a special envoy to Ukraine and Russia. Witkoff currently serves as the White House’s special envoy to the Middle East and has been involved in ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas.
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