Putin discusses Trump’s Ukraine peace proposal with US envoys

Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin has held talks with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on President Donald Trump’s proposal to end the war in Ukraine. The envoys arrived in Moscow on Saturday and met Putin at the Kremlin, with expectations they will travel to Kyiv on Sunday.
After about three hours of discussions, senior Russian official Kirill Dmitriev described the Moscow visit as “an important peace-building trip.” Kremlin foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov called the talks “meaningful, very open and constructive,” saying a “whole range of ideas for establishing peace” was developed during the meeting.
Ushakov said Putin told the envoys that Russia would achieve its objectives and that the “root causes” of the conflict must be addressed, adding that Moscow is “confident” about reaching its military goals of capturing the rest of eastern Ukraine. Witkoff and Kushner promised to convey Putin’s assessments to their discussions in Kyiv, and both sides agreed that Putin and Trump would stay in contact.
Witkoff told Putin that the US president had sent good wishes and thanked him for a limited ceasefire during the delegation’s visit. Putin also thanked Trump and said Moscow would do everything possible to ensure the safety of the mediators. Russia and Ukraine both pledged during the talks not to attack each other’s capitals for three days as Washington seeks to revive negotiations to end Europe’s worst conflict since World War II.
Al Jazeera correspondent Yulia Shapovalova in Moscow reported “somewhat hopeful” signals from the Kremlin about progress in the talks, but noted major differences remain. She said that while Putin says he is open to public peace negotiations, after Ukrainian drone strikes and attacks on oil infrastructure he will not make concessions on key issues and will not negotiate with “terrorists.”
The talks come as the war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, has seen a rise in civilian casualties and attacks in recent months. After capturing most of eastern Ukraine, Putin has repeatedly said Moscow intends to take the rest. Ukrainian officials said at least seven people were killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine on Saturday, including in the Kyiv suburbs, while a Ukrainian drone strike on Russia’s Belgorod region killed one person and wounded another.
The Kremlin said it would not attack Kyiv from midnight on Saturday, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would halt attacks on Moscow “from now” until Monday. Al Jazeera’s Audrey McElhone in Kyiv said the US envoys’ visit is being seen as a “milestone” in Ukraine, though it is viewed more as a formal step than one likely to produce “any real concrete results.”