Witkoff and Kushner arrive in Moscow for Ukraine war talks
U.S. special representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Moscow for talks on the war in Ukraine before a planned visit to Kyiv.
Moscow, Russia. U.S. special representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Moscow on Saturday for talks on the war in Ukraine, Reuters reported, citing two people familiar with the visit.
They were met by Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev, and a motorcade carrying the three men left Moscow’s governmental airport for the city, according to a Reuters witness.
Meetings in Moscow
Dmitriev has taken part in all previous meetings between the U.S. negotiators and President Vladimir Putin. He told Reuters in June that he had remained in contact with the U.S. negotiators during a pause in their visits to Russia.
He also played a role in negotiating U.S. sanctions waivers for Russian oil this year.
U.S. proposal and Kyiv visit
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that the United States had a fresh concrete proposal aimed at ending the war, now in its fifth year, but did not provide details.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday that Witkoff and Kushner would travel to Ukraine on Sunday after their visit to Moscow. In a post on X on Saturday, Zelenskiy said Russia had struck two Ukrainian airports ahead of the U.S. envoys’ planned visit to Kyiv.
Positions remain far apart
A wide gap remains between Russia and Ukraine over terms for ending the four-and-a-half-year war, Europe’s deadliest since World War Two.
The Kremlin said on Friday that Putin’s position, set out in a speech two years ago, remained “unshakeable”. That position calls for Ukraine to cede the full territory of four regions claimed by Russia and abandon its plan to join NATO.
Since the last peace talks in February, both sides have intensified long-range air attacks inside each other’s territory, while the conflict at sea has also escalated. Front lines have remained largely static, with Russia making gradual gains in its effort to take the whole of Ukraine’s Donbas region.
Economic effects
Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian oil refineries have contributed to fuel shortages and rising prices for Russian motorists during the summer.
Around 30 attacks on large warehouses, mostly belonging to Wildberries, Russia’s biggest online retailer, have also affected the consumer economy.
This news item was generated automatically by Cyprus Inform from publicly available materials. Report an error →