Kushner, Whitkoff outline \u201ca number of ideas\u201d on possible avenues for settling Ukraine war, says Kremlin aide Ushakov
\n Washington
\nRussian President Vladimir Putin held more than three hours of \u201chighly useful\u201d talks on Saturday with two US envoys seeking a deal to end the Ukraine war, a Kremlin aide said, but he did not indicate any breakthrough.
\nThe aide, Yuri Ushakov, said Americans Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner \u201coutlined a number of ideas regarding possible avenues for a settlement.\u201d Ushakov did not say what these ideas were.
\nHe said Putin had told the pair that Russia was making \u201creal progress\u201d on the battlefield, was confident of achieving its goals, and stressed the necessity of addressing \u201call the root causes of the conflict.\u201d
\nAll these are statements that Moscow has made repeatedly in the course of the war, which has dragged on for more than four and a half years and has seen both sides intensify long-range air strikes in recent weeks while the front lines remain largely static.
\nThere was no comment from Witkoff and Kushner, who were visiting Moscow for the first time since January on behalf of President Donald Trump. They flew out of Moscow soon after the talks and are due to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv on Sunday.
\n\u201cThe talks went beyond a mere exchange of views on resolving the Ukrainian crisis. Economic issues and potential major, mutually beneficial Russian-American projects were discussed in some detail,\u201d Ushakov said.
\n\u201cOverall, one can say that the negotiations were timely and highly useful for both sides.\u201d
\nPutin\u2019s investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev posted afterwards on X that it had been an \u201cimportant peacemaking visit.\u201d He and Ushakov were both present at the meeting.
\nPutin praises Trump\u2019s efforts
\nIn televised remarks at the start of the talks, Putin praised Trump\u2019s efforts to end the war. Trump suggested on Friday the US had a fresh proposal aimed at ending the war, but did not elaborate.
\n\u201cUnderstanding that he is entering a difficult situation, he nevertheless does not stop his efforts to help bring about a settlement and to make his contribution to resolving the Russian-Ukrainian conflict,\u201d Putin said.
\nHe promised to ensure the safety of the US negotiators. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier that Putin had ordered the Russian military not to strike Kyiv for three days because of their trip.
\nOver the previous 10 days, Russia had pounded the Ukrainian capital day and night with missiles and drones, including an attack on Friday on the headquarters of the SBU security service.
\nUkraine has inflicted damaging hits throughout the summer on Russian refineries, oil terminals and warehouses of online retailer Wildberries, in a bid to raise the cost to Moscow of continuing the war. Zelenskiy said Kyiv was prepared to refrain from strikes on Moscow through Monday.
\nA vast gulf in positions
\nA vast gulf remains between Russia and Ukraine on how to end the war, the deadliest in Europe since World War Two.
\nA source close to the Kremlin, speaking before reports emerged of the trip by Trump\u2019s envoys, said Putin was still intent on capturing more territory.
\n\u201cThere is no chance of reaching an agreement regarding the front line until Putin finishes securing the remaining part of the Donetsk region,\u201d the source told Reuters, adding that the Kremlin leader was confident \u2014 based on reports from his commanders \u2014 that this would happen by the end of the year.
\nWestern military analysts see such a possibility as remote, given Moscow\u2019s slow rate of progress. Ukraine has refused to surrender land it has successfully defended at huge cost, and rejects such terms as tantamount to surrender.
\nThe Kremlin said on Friday the position that Putin set out in a speech two years ago \u2014 that Ukraine should cede the entire territory of four regions claimed by Russia and abandon its plan to join Nato \u2014 was \u201cunshakeable.\u201d
\nSince the last US-mediated peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in February, each side has intensified long-range air attacks deep inside the other\u2019s territory, while the war at sea has also escalated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kushner, Whitkoff outline \u201ca number of ideas\u201d on possible avenues for settling Ukraine war, says Kremlin aide Ushakov Washington Russian President Vladimir Putin held more than three hours of \u201chighly useful\u201d talks on Saturday with two US envoys seeking a deal to end the Ukraine war, a Kremlin aide said, but he did not indicate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":565904,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-565892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n