Putin holds firm with US envoys, offers truce in key Ukrainian city

Vladimir Putin remained inflexible on his maximalist demands to end the war in Ukraine while proposing a temporary truce in a key frontline city during a Kremlin meeting with Donald Trump's envoys on Thursday. Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff met with the Russian president before heading to Dublin to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, following Ukrainian-Russian talks in Abu Dhabi. Putin rejected foreign troop deployments in Ukraine, calling them "absolutely unacceptable," while the American envoys urged Russian participation in multilateral negotiations including Europeans. Russia occupies over 19% of Ukrainian territory and claims annexation of four regions. Putin proposed a humanitarian operation in Kostiantynivka, similar to a recent mission in Russian-controlled Olechky. The two sides agreed to a large prisoner exchange, though Moscow insists it will only sign an agreement on its own terms.