US Envoys Visit Kyiv for First Time in Push to End Ukraine War

U.S. peace envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv on Sunday, marking their first visit to Ukraine as negotiators amid a renewed Trump administration push to end Russia's four-and-a-half-year war. The envoys traveled from Moscow after three hours of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday, which yielded no apparent breakthrough. Putin called the meeting "highly useful," while a White House official said next steps would be announced in coming weeks. Zelenskiy, who sees Washington as key to any deal, said Ukraine wants an end to the war and stressed the need for security guarantees. Previous U.S.-mediated talks have stalled on issues like the Donbas region, with Russia demanding Ukraine withdraw from towns it controls there. Kyiv residents expressed cautious optimism, while both sides agreed to temporarily halt strikes on each other's capitals until Monday, though fighting continued elsewhere along the 1,200-km front.