US envoys meet Zelensky in Kyiv after Putin talks as frontline battles rage on

US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Sunday for high-stakes negotiations, following a three-hour meeting with Vladimir Putin in Moscow, in Washington's most direct effort to revive peace talks. The discussions were described as "substantive" by Witkoff, with a temporary three-day pause in air strikes on Kyiv and Moscow allowing safe travel. Intense combat continued along the front line, with eight civilians killed and Ukrainian drones striking a Russian oil refinery. Previous talks stalled over Russian demands for Ukraine's withdrawal from the Donbas and renunciation of NATO membership. Kyiv has firm limits on concessions, while talks also focused on Ukraine's urgent winter energy needs after Russian strikes destroyed 9 gigawatts of power generation.