MOSCOW — US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived at the Kremlin on Thursday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a new push for a peace deal in Ukraine despite what they have called a lack of trust between Moscow and Kyiv.
During the talks, Putin on Thursday told US envoys that Russia was proposing a joint Russian-Ukrainian humanitarian mission to the city of Kostiantynivka in eastern Ukraine, the Interfax news agency reported.
Putin was cited as saying that the mission could be modeled on a similar initiative that allowed residents to leave the town of Oleshky in southeastern Ukraine at the end of last month and for aid to be brought in for those who chose to remain.
Russia needed five days to clear the area near Kostiantynivka of mines, Putin was cited as saying.
Kushner told Putin that Europe wanted a role in future negotiations.
"If we move to a multilateral format, then we'll continue to make progress to resolve the issues," Kushner said in the televised meeting. Witkoff added he was "hopeful we can include the Europeans", in the next round of talks.
The Kremlin talks follow two days of trilateral negotiations in Abu Dhabi that ended on Wednesday. They resulted in another planned prisoner exchange, but no breakthrough in wider negotiations was made public.
Kirill Dmitriev, Putin's special envoy, met Kushner and Witkoff after they landed in Russia and accompanied them to central Moscow ahead of their talks with Putin.
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.
"I hope so," he replied.
The earlier talks in Abu Dhabi were the first direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine mediated by the United States to try to end the conflict and, although Russian and Ukrainian negotiators reported some progress, US mediators said differences remained on major issues, including territory.
Despite public optimism from US President Trump, there has been no sign of major compromises.
With talks deadlocked on land, Washington has tried to steer discussions toward postwar security guarantees and reconstruction.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said it was too soon to say that trust had been restored between Russia and Ukraine following talks in Abu Dhabi, the Interfax news agency cited him as saying on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned European leaders on Thursday to be wary of discussions between the United States and Russia about a new security arrangement for the continent.
The European Union will approve more sanctions against Russia, France's Minister for European Affairs Benjamin Haddad said on Thursday.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday that there appears to be a growing willingness from Russia to acknowledge that Ukraine talks cannot be held without involving Europe.
"That is, first of all, good news. Whether this will continue remains to be seen," Merz said on the sidelines of the European Political Community meeting in Dublin.
'Clear vision'
French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday said Europe needed a "clear and united vision" on its goals for Ukraine talks, before considering naming an envoy to negotiate with Russia.
The developments on the diplomatic front came as Russia and Ukraine exchanged attacks on each other's capitals early on Thursday.
Explosions were heard in Kyiv in the early hours of Thursday, a Reuters witness said.
Russia downed five drones that were heading for Moscow, Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said on Telegram on Thursday.
In another development, Russia's ambassador to the United States, Alexander Darchiev, has died suddenly at age 66 after one and a half years in the job, Moscow's Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday.
Moscow did not give more details on the death.
AGENCIES VIA XINHUA
