US envoys hold ‘substantive’ talks with Zelenskyy in first visit to Kyiv

United States peculiar envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff person held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy connected ending Russia’s warfare against his country, marking their archetypal sojourn to Kyiv since the full-scale Russian penetration successful February 2022.

The gathering connected Sunday came a time aft the 2 met Russian President Vladimir Putin successful Moscow.

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“It is precise important that the delegation has arrived to spot us. We person been waiting a agelong clip for Steve and Jared, Witkoff and Kushner,” Zelenskyy said, thanking US President Donald Trump for “allowing them to come” contempt the war.

After the meeting, Witkoff said the US squad had been “very encouraged” by what helium described arsenic a “substantive, important” discussion.

On his part, Kushner said Trump wanted “not conscionable to fig retired however we extremity the existent war, but however bash we make the close conditions and arrangements for a long-term, durable peace”.

Earlier, Zelenskyy published a video of himself gathering Trump’s envoys successful cardinal Kyiv, saying, “Talks person begun.”

Ukraine’s apical information officials and negotiators were besides present, on with respective European nationalist information advisers. Zelenskyy said Europeans would enactment successful immoderate of the talks with the US envoys.

“We are expecting 1 league of our talks, and past different league volition beryllium held with the European NSAs [national information advisers]. Several important sessions,” helium said.

The US envoys arrived successful the Ukrainian superior by bid from Poland, hoping to revive negotiations to extremity Europe’s worst struggle since World War II aft a summertime of heightened tensions. While Witkoff and Kushner person visited Moscow 8 times, they person ne'er held talks successful Kyiv until now.

Zelenskyy took the US envoys to spot Kyiv’s historical Saint Sophia’s Cathedral, which sits other the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) information gathering that was deed by a Russian drone connected Friday.

Moscow’s four-and-a-half-year penetration of Ukraine has killed hundreds of thousands of radical and displaced millions.

Previous rounds of US-mediated bid talks encouraged by Trump, who campaigned connected a committedness to rapidly extremity the war, person yielded fewer results. He suggested connected Friday that the US had a caller proposal, though helium did not elaborate.

‘Highly useful’ meeting

Kremlin adjutant Yuri Ushakov described Saturday’s gathering successful Moscow, which ran much than 3 hours, arsenic “highly useful”, portion a White House authoritative told the Reuters quality bureau that the adjacent steps would beryllium announced successful the coming weeks.

Ushakov called the talks “extremely frank”, saying the US squad “put guardant a fig of ideas connected imaginable routes to a settlement”, though helium gave nary details.

In televised comments earlier those talks, Putin said Russia would guarantee the information of the envoys portion successful Kyiv. “We volition bash everything that depends connected america to guarantee the information of the dialog process and mediators specified arsenic yourselves,” Putin told Witkoff and Kushner.

Earlier connected Saturday, Putin had thanked Trump for persisting successful his efforts to extremity the warfare contempt it being “not simple”.

Trump said again connected Friday that his envoys were bringing a “proposal” to extremity the fighting. “We person an thought for peace,” helium said, without elaborating.

US efforts person truthful acold failed to bring astir a breakthrough successful the war, successful portion due to the fact that of the US-Israeli warfare connected Iran.

Meanwhile, Russia has occupied ample swathes of eastbound and confederate Ukraine, and Putin has insisted Moscow is intent connected seizing the remainder of the east.

In erstwhile talks, the 2 sides person remained acold isolated connected a scope of cardinal issues, including the aboriginal of Ukraine’s eastbound regions of Luhansk and Donetsk. Russia has demanded Ukraine’s withdrawal from an entrenched loop of towns that it inactive controls there, but Kyiv has refused, reckoning it tin inactive clasp retired for years.

For Ukraine, hard information guarantees from its European allies and the US are important to deter Russia from invading again.

No strikes connected capitals

Both Russia and Ukraine person pledged not to onslaught each other’s superior for 3 days astir the US team’s visit. Yet contempt the ceasefire statement for the 2 cities, warring continued elsewhere.

The Ukraine Air Force said Russia had attacked overnight with 108 drones and missiles. It besides said connected Sunday that it had struck the Ryazan lipid refinery, astir 480km (298 miles) wrong Russia, overnight, causing a fire.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defence Ministry said it had changeable down 400 drones successful the past 24 hours, according to the Interfax quality agency.

It added that strikes were carried retired during the time connected Ukrainian infrastructure facilities utilized by the country’s equipped forces, arsenic good arsenic drone retention sites.