MOSCOW: Top US negotiators met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday in a high-stakes meeting as Moscow pushed for battlefield progress.
Putin, who hosted Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and US special envoy Steve Witkoff in the Kremlin, warned earlier that his forces were prepared to fight until Russia achieved its primary war goals.
The meeting is a critical moment for Ukraine in what could be a tense week following days of frenzied diplomacy sparked by a unilateral US plan to bring peace, which has since been amended in response to criticism from Kyiv and its European allies.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated on Monday that any proposal must effectively end the war, rather than simply pausing the hostilities that began with Moscow’s onslaught in February 2022.
Washington has stated that it is “optimistic” about its ability to assist end Europe’s worst battle since World War II.
Kushner and Witkoff were to provide Putin with the revised US plan, which had been thrashed out after the previous version sparked concerns in Kyiv and elsewhere in Europe that it offered too many concessions to Moscow.
According to a state TV broadcast, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov and Kremlin business envoy Kirill Dmitriev attended the meeting.
Following their travel to Moscow, Kushner and Witkoff may meet with a Ukrainian group as early as Wednesday, maybe in Brussels, according to a senior Kiev official.