Russian President Vladimir Putin recently met with US envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, son-in-law of former US President Donald Trump, at the Kremlin. The meeting is part of the Trump Administration’s efforts to broker a peace deal in the ongoing Ukraine conflict, which has been raging for four years. Details of the discussion were not disclosed by either side.
According to Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign policy advisor, the conversation was “very useful, constructive, and highly substantive” and lasted for five hours. This allowed for an in-depth discussion on the prospects for joint efforts to achieve a long-term peaceful resolution to the Ukrainian crisis.
The meeting follows recent talks between US officials and a Ukrainian delegation in Florida, which US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described as “productive.” However, Rubio noted that more work needs to be done to reach a resolution. A US-backed peace plan was made public last month, but it raised concerns about being biased towards Moscow. The proposal included some of the Kremlin’s core demands, such as Ukraine ceding the eastern region of Donbas to Russia and renouncing its bid to join NATO.
In a related development, the Kremlin released a video claiming to show Russian troops waving a flag in the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk. The video’s authenticity has not been verified, and Ukrainian officials have not commented. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy stated on Monday that fighting was still ongoing in the area. Pokrovsk is a strategic location along the eastern front line in the “fortress belt” of Donetsk, which is crucial to Ukraine’s defense of the region.
The meeting between Putin and the US envoys is significant as it indicates a renewed effort to find a peaceful solution to the conflict. The US-backed peace plan has been met with skepticism, and it remains to be seen how the negotiations will proceed. The situation in Ukraine remains volatile, with ongoing fighting and a humanitarian crisis. The international community is watching the developments closely, hoping for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.