U.S. envoys mediating Russia-Ukraine cease-fire talks will meet Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky after meeting Russia President Vladimir Putin. Attention is on whether the cease-fire talks, which halted after the Middle East crisis in Feb., will resume.
According to Reuters and AFP, Steve Witkoff, an envoy for U.S. President Donald Trump, and Jared Kushner, Trump's eldest son-in-law, visited Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, on the 6th (local time). This is the first time the two envoys have visited Kyiv.
They are scheduled to meet Zelensky that day to discuss a cease-fire plan. The day before, they held talks with Putin in Moscow.
The envoys' visit to Kyiv is also seen as a move mindful of criticism that their efforts had leaned toward Russia. Witkoff had visited Moscow eight times, but this is his first visit to Kyiv.
The Russian side said it conveyed to the U.S. during talks with Putin the previous day its existing position that it could seize the eastern Donbas region by force.
Ukraine, by contrast, rejects ceding Donbas and is sticking to a cease-fire plan that includes freezing the front lines. The sides remain far apart on the core issues.
Attacks by both sides continued the night before the envoys' visit to Kyiv. Regional authorities in Russia said Ukrainian forces attacked the Ryazan refinery, one of Russia's major oil facilities. Ukraine's military said Russia launched 108 drones.
Earlier, to facilitate the U.S. envoys' back-to-back visits, Russia and Ukraine agreed not to attack each other's capitals for three days.