Russian President Vladimir Putin met Thursday at the Kremlin with envoys from U.S. President Donald Trump for talks on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Washington sought to give new momentum to peace efforts following two days of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, held under U.S.
auspices in the United Arab Emirates. These were the first direct talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials in nine months, as peace efforts had stalled this year. Although they had just concluded two days of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in the United Arab Emirates—which ended Wednesday with an agreement on a large-scale prisoner exchange— but failed to yield any visible progress toward ending nearly five years of large-scale hostilities, U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff appeared determined to seize the opportunity and traveled directly to the Kremlin.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned European leaders on Thursday against discussions between the United States and Russia regarding a new security agreement for the continent.
