US mediators on Ukraine war expected in Russia: Kremlin

Yuri Ushakov, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s assistants in charge of negotiations, said in a statement to state television that the Kremlin expects the rapid resumption of US mediation to end the war in Ukraine after the current three-day ceasefire.

Ushakov said US special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner would be in Moscow “very soon”, without specifying a date.

Ushakov said that the ceasefire, which will last until Monday, was accepted as a result of two days of phone conversations with the United States, and he described it as “not easy”.

Witkoff and Kushner have mediated talks between Russia and Ukraine in the past without achieving any progress.

Ushakov noted that they were also involved in negotiations regarding the Middle East conflict.

He reiterated that Russia is ready to end the war if Ukraine withdraws from the Donbas region in the east of the country.

“They know they have to do this in Ukraine and sooner or later they will do it,” Ushakov said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has repeatedly rejected this request.

Russian forces have so far failed to capture the strategically important cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk in Donetsk, which Ukraine sees as key to defending the approaches to Kiev.

Both sides reported widespread violations of the ceasefire Trump announced Friday, but observers noted an overall decline in attacks, particularly attacks on energy facilities behind the front lines.

On Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry reported more than 16,000 ceasefire violations, including isolated gunfire.

It was stated that 57 Ukrainian UAVs were shot down.

Ukraine’s general staff reported 150 Russian attacks, and the air force said 27 Russian drones were shot down.

Five people, including two children, were injured when a drone crashed into an apartment block in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, local authorities reported.