Putin calls US talks 'highly useful' as peace hopes hang in balance
MOSCOW, Russia — Russian President Vladimir Putin held more than three hours of talks on Saturday with two American envoys seeking a deal to end the Ukraine war, a Kremlin aide said, describing the meeting as “highly useful” but offering no sign of a breakthrough.
Yuri Ushakov, a foreign policy adviser to the Kremlin, said US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner “outlined a number of ideas regarding possible avenues for a settlement,” though he did not disclose what those ideas were. The two envoys were visiting Moscow on behalf of President Donald Trump for the first time since January.
Ushakov said Putin told the Americans that Russia was making “real progress” on the battlefield and was confident of achieving its goals. The Russian leader also stressed the need to address “all the root causes of the conflict,” a phrase Moscow has repeated throughout the war, now in its fifth year.
What did Putin and the US envoys discuss?
Beyond the war, the talks touched on economic matters. “The talks went beyond a mere exchange of views on resolving the Ukrainian crisis,” Ushakov said. “Economic issues and potential major, mutually beneficial Russian-American projects were discussed in some detail.”
Kirill Dmitriev, Putin's investment envoy who attended the meeting, posted on X that it had been an “important peacemaking visit.”
The envoys flew out of Moscow soon after the talks and are due to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Sunday.
Putin praises Trump's peace efforts
In televised remarks at the start of the meeting, Putin praised Trump's efforts to end the war, which has seen both sides intensify long-range air strikes in recent weeks while front lines remain largely static.
“Understanding that he is entering a difficult situation, he nevertheless does not stop his efforts to help bring about a settlement,” Putin said, referring to Trump.
Trump suggested on Friday that the US had a fresh proposal aimed at ending the war, but did not elaborate.
Putin promised to ensure the safety of the US negotiators. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier that Putin had ordered the Russian military not to strike Kyiv for three days because of the trip. Over the previous 10 days, Russia had pounded the Ukrainian capital with missiles and drones, including an attack on Friday on the headquarters of the SBU security service.
Ukraine has inflicted damaging hits throughout the summer on Russian refineries, oil terminals and warehouses, and Zelenskyy said Kyiv was prepared to refrain from strikes on Moscow through Monday.
Why is a peace deal still far away?
A vast gulf remains between Russia and Ukraine on how to end the war, the deadliest in Europe since World War Two.
A source close to the Kremlin said Putin was still intent on capturing more territory, particularly in the Donetsk region. “There is no chance of reaching an agreement regarding the front line until Putin finishes securing the remaining part of the Donetsk region,” the source told Reuters, adding that the Kremlin leader was confident this would happen by the end of the year.
Western military analysts see such a possibility as remote, given Moscow's slow rate of progress. Ukraine has refused to surrender land it has successfully defended at huge cost, and rejects such terms as tantamount to surrender.
The Kremlin said on Friday that Putin's position, first set out two years ago, remains “unshakeable”: Ukraine should cede the entire territory of four regions claimed by Russia and abandon its plan to join NATO.
Since the last US-mediated peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in February, each side has intensified long-range air attacks deep inside the other's territory, while the war at sea has also escalated.
With reports from Reuters