Claim
The Kremlin later claimed the war against Ukraine came up only 'as a refrain' during the Putin-Xi talks, with the focus mainly on bilateral relations
Attributed to The Kremlin
Evidence
A search found one Ukrainska Pravda (English) article, dated 31 Aug 2026 in its URL. It reports that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Ukraine war was discussed "as a refrain, in passing" at the Putin-Xi talks. It says the talks mainly covered bilateral relations and trade and economic cooperation. The article cites Interfax as its source. I did not open the Interfax original or find Reuters, AFP, Bellingcat or EUvsDisinfo coverage of this exact claim. The claim is only that the Kremlin said this, so the Ukrainska Pravda report supports it.
Supporting sources
Assessment
A named outlet quotes Peskov directly, via Interfax, saying what the claim describes. I did not corroborate it with a second independent outlet or the Interfax original, so I rate it LIKELY and not CONFIRMED.
Confidence
Some independent corroboration was found, but it isn't yet conclusive.
Timeline
Sep 1, 2026, 9:45 AM UTC
LikelyInitial assessment.
Sep 25, 2026, 9:39 AM UTC
UnverifiedNo independent search results could be obtained due to a technical limitation (search tool usage limit reached), so there is no evidence either supporting or contradicting this specific quote/claim, and no existing fact-check was located.
Oct 28, 2026, 9:30 AM UTC
LikelyA named outlet quotes Peskov directly, via Interfax, saying what the claim describes. I did not corroborate it with a second independent outlet or the Interfax original, so I rate it LIKELY and not CONFIRMED.
First observed Sep 1, 2026, 9:45 AM UTC · Last reviewed Oct 28, 2026, 9:30 AM UTC