US envoys meet Putin in Moscow to push Ukraine peace deal

US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow on Thursday to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, part of a diplomatic push to negotiate a peace deal for the war in Ukraine. They will then travel to Dublin to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Zelensky expressed skepticism about the talks, demanding concrete security guarantees and sovereignty over the Donbass region, which is partially occupied by Russia. He ruled out negotiating a military withdrawal from Donbass and said progress depends on US willingness to pressure Putin, while welcoming that negotiations have resumed. The mission follows talks in Abu Dhabi that yielded an announced prisoner exchange, with Zelensky expecting Moscow to agree to release up to 1,200 prisoners. Negotiations had been stalled for over eight months due to Washington's focus on the Israel-Iran war, with no progress on core issues like occupied territories and security guarantees.