White House calls FT data on possible change in composition of US negotiators inaccurate

TASS

WASHINGTON, September 9. /TASS/. The White House has called the information in the Financial Times about possible changes in the team of US representatives negotiating with Russia and Ukraine false.

"This entire story is totally fake news attributed to low-level, anonymous 'sources' who have no idea what they are talking about. None of these supposed conversations are happening. Special Envoy [Steve] Witkoff and [US President Donald Trump's son-in-law] Jared Kushner continue to work incredibly hard towards a peace agreement, and the President trusts them fully to lead negotiations on behalf of the United States," White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly wrote on social network X, commenting on the FT publication.

At the same time, she called the FT's statement that the White House had declined to comment on the information in the article incorrect. According to Kelly, the material was published before the newspaper's request reached the US administration's press service. "It's a shame that Financial Times has devolved into a left-wing gossip rag that has zero interest in reporting accurate information," Kelly stated.

Earlier, the Financial Times reported, citing sources, that although US President Donald Trump has not yet made up his mind regarding changes in US shuttle diplomacy, CIA Director John Ratcliffe may play a more active role in future negotiations on resolving the Ukrainian conflict. The report says that a turf war has broken out between Ratcliffe and Witkoff over who will be the chief US negotiator. The CIA press service has not yet responded to TASS's request for comment on this FT information.

The CIA chief visited Moscow on August 25. Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the trip was part of communication between the two countries' intelligence agencies. Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Director Sergey Naryshkin confirmed that he had met with the CIA director during his visit to Moscow.

Witkoff and Kushner visited Moscow on September 5. They were received by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The next day, they met with Zelensky in Kiev. As Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov reported, Putin and US leader Donald Trump held a telephone conversation on September 8.

Fonte: TASS