In brief
President Donald Trump’s envoy team, led by Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, will travel to Moscow and Kyiv this weekend in a bid to broker a peace settlement. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenský confirmed a meeting with the envoys after a Russian drone strike on the SBU office in Kyiv. The talks represent the first front‑line outreach to Ukraine, following the latest Russian claim that the war could end soon. Meanwhile, Putin hinted that a deal may be possible if Moscow and Kyiv negotiate directly, though the positions remain far apart.
U.S. negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are set to visit Moscow and Kyiv this weekend. The trip, announced by President Donald Trump’s team, aims to bring a new wave of diplomatic pressure to a war that has devastated Ukraine for four years.
Zelenskyy confirms arrival
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenský will meet the envoys on Sunday after they attend talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday. The meeting comes after a Russian drone strike on the office of the Ukraine security chief Oleksandr Poklad in Kyiv – an attack that left Poklad unharmed but intensified the urgency for peace talks.
The peace team, led by Kushner – Trump’s son‑in‑law – and Witkoff, has traversed Russia many times. It will, however, be their first visit to Kyiv, where they hope to address the sharp gulf that remains between the two warring sides.
Russian perspective
Putin told an international economic forum that “there are chances” a peace deal could be reached, insisting first that Moscow and Kyiv negotiate directly. Yet he maintained his maximalist demands, which would require substantial territorial concessions from Ukraine – a demand Kyiv and its European allies have rebuffed as capitulation.
Russia continues to control roughly 20% of Ukraine’s territory while the conflict escalates, with civilians caught in a relentless cycle of drone strikes and bombardment.
For live updates, follow @PulseWireLive on Twitter and share your eyewitness reports using #UkrainePeacePush. View the route of the envoys on OpenStreetMap.
