Kremlin Says Putin's Talks With U.S. Envoys Were Useful, Ukraine Peace Talks to Continue

Detailed summary

The Kremlin said Thursday that talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and two U.S. envoys had been useful and that the American side had supported Putin's proposal for a…

The Kremlin said Thursday that talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and two U.S. envoys had been useful and that the American side had supported Putin's proposal for a joint humanitarian mission to a city in eastern Ukraine.

Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said Putin would continue discussions on Ukraine with U.S. President Donald Trump at an APEC summit in China later this month and that direct peace talks with Kyiv, which resumed this week after a nine-month hiatus, would continue.

He said that Russia had made clear to the U.S. envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, that NATO could not expand further and expressed hope that Europe would support talks on a new European security architecture.

Thursday's negotiations marked the 10th time Witkoff has met Putin in person during a conflict that has lasted longer than the Soviet Union's fight against Nazi Germany in World War II, and follow two days of U.S.-led trilateral peace talks in Abu Dhabi.

After the Abu Dhabi talks, the sides said they had agreed on a major exchange of prisoners of war that is likely to happen in the coming weeks, but announced no breakthrough in wider negotiations.

As he entered a Moscow hotel before the Kremlin talks, Witkoff was asked by a reporter whether progress made in the talks so far meant peace was closer.

Russian and Ukrainian negotiators reported some progress in Abu Dhabi, but the U.S. side said differences remained on major issues, including territory.

Witkoff and Kushner are expected to fly to Dublin later on Thursday for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said on Wednesday he hoped a result in the talks could be achieved by the end of this year, but that much depended on how the United States approached Moscow.

President Donald Trump, who once said he could end the now 4.5-year conflict in 24 hours, has instructed Witkoff and Kushner, his son-in-law, to make a new push for peace, which he hopes will burnish his self-styled credentials as a peacemaker.

Opening of the article, excerpted from The Moscow Times. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.