US envoy to visit Moscow as Ukraine talks pick up speed
US special envoy Steve Witkoff will visit Moscow as efforts to reach a consensus on ending the nearly four-year war between Russia and Ukraine gain momentum.
But Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, insisted that Kremlin officials still had not seen the US peace offer, despite US, Russian and Ukrainian representatives holding talks in Abu Dhabi this week.
“Contact continues, including by phone, but no one has yet sat at the round table and discussed this issue one by one. This has not happened,” Ushakov told Russian state media on Wednesday. he said.
Ukrainian officials have not confirmed whether U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who has played a high-profile role in peace efforts in recent weeks, will be in Kiev in the coming days, as Trump indicated on Tuesday.
Trump’s plan to end the war was made public last week, launching a series of diplomatic maneuvers.
The first version appeared to lean heavily towards Russia’s demands for an end to its invasion of its neighbor.
Following talks between U.S. and Ukrainian officials in Geneva over the weekend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the plan could be “feasible” even though key points have not yet been resolved.
A Ukrainian official said Zelenskiy hopes to meet with Trump in the coming days.
Witkoff’s role in the peace effort was brought into question again on Tuesday by a report that said Putin coached his aide Ushakov on how the Russian leader should pitch Trump on the Ukraine peace plan.
Trump described Witkoff’s reported approach to the Russians on the call as “standard” negotiating procedure.
“He needs to sell this to Ukraine. He needs to sell Ukraine to Russia,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he flew home to Florida.
“That’s what a dealmaker does.”
Russia’s relentless war of attrition in Ukraine continued to form the backdrop for diplomatic jockeys.
The southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhia was subjected to a massive Russian drone attack overnight, damaging more than 50 residential buildings, including a university dormitory full of people, the head of the regional military administration, Ivan Fedorov, said on Wednesday.
It was stated that at least 19 people were injured in the attack.
Meanwhile, according to the Russian defense ministry, Russian air defense shot down 33 Ukrainian drones over various regions of Russia and the Black Sea.
European countries, alarmed by Russia’s aggression and thinking that their future is in danger in the Ukraine negotiations, are struggling to make their voices heard in the negotiations, with the United States leading the way.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Europe wanted the war to end as quickly as possible, but an agreement that would lead to a “real, sustainable peace” would need the approval of Ukraine and Europe.
“Europe is not a toy, but a sovereign actor for its own interests and values,” he said in his speech to MPs in Berlin. he said.
Ursula Von der Leyen, the European Union’s executive president, said she was pleased with the latest developments and said there was “an opportunity to make real progress” towards peace.
He insisted that any agreement must include guarantees for Ukraine’s future security.
He also said the agreement could not impose limits on Ukraine’s armed forces or block the path to NATO membership, limits that were included in the initial proposal.
“As a sovereign nation, there can be no restrictions on Ukraine’s armed forces that would leave the country vulnerable to future attacks,” he said in a speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.
“This is about deterrence as much as it is about the security of Europe, because the security of Ukraine is the security of Europe.”
