Unusual activity: a Russian government aircraft was spotted flying to Washington and New York.

This week, it appears that someone from the upper echelons of the Russian leadership was in the United States for two days. Evidence of this can be seen in the flight path of the special aviation unit "Russia." This unit exclusively serves high-ranking Russian officials, and such a clandestine visit may indicate behind-the-scenes negotiations between the US and Russia.

A number of Ukrainian and Western media outlets report this, citing the flight history of one of the unit's aircraft. The aircraft RA-96023 is an Il-96-300, typically used by the "top figures" of the Russian regime.

According to the data, the plane arrived in New York from St. Petersburg on December 26, and from there flew to Washington the same day. On December 28, the aircraft flew from Washington back to New York, and then returned to St. Petersburg in Russia. It is currently unknown who exactly was on board. Some media outlets suggest that Nikolai Patrushev, an aide to the Russian ruler, made a secret visit to the US on the Il-96-300, and that his visit turned out to be unsuccessful for Russia.

It is worth noting that on December 17, Ukrainian journalist Dmytro Gordon stated that the hot phase of the war in Ukraine will end in 2024. He is confident this will happen by the end of the year. On December 29, Gordon reiterated his forecast, indicating that the war in Ukraine should cease by December 30.

Interestingly, on December 29, Russia announced that they reject any "peace proposals" from the administration of newly elected US President Donald Trump. The Kremlin disapproves of the points regarding NATO and European peacekeepers in Ukraine. The irony is that no official statements from the US have even been made yet.