Live Ukraine war: Zelenskyy fears fighting will continue through winter

The American envoys who traveled to Moscow and Kyiv brought new proposals to end the war, but Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine should prepare for another winter of fighting. The Ukrainian president blamed the outlook on what he described as Vladimir Putin’s lack of willingness to negotiate directly with him.

Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, held talks with Zelenskyy in Kyiv after arriving from Poland. Ukrainian officials described the proposals as “more effective” than earlier ideas. The talks also included European advisers: Germany’s Günter Sautter, Britain’s Jonathan Powell and France’s Emmanuel Bonne.

After meeting the American envoys, Zelenskyy said Ukraine would rely on European support if the war continued through the winter, adding that this appeared to be the situation for now. He had sounded less optimistic after earlier discussions with Trump’s representatives.

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We are counting on the support of our European partners if the war continues through the winter, which appears to be the case for now.

Witkoff and Kushner later left Kyiv by a special train, Ukrainian Railways said. “We have dispatched the special train for Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. We thanked them for their visit and conveyed our best wishes,” the company said, without giving their destination.

The talks took place as hostilities continued. Ukraine’s air force said Moscow had attacked overnight with 108 drones and missiles, most of which it said were shot down, although 11 sites were hit. Russia, for its part, said it had neutralized 258 Ukrainian drones during the night.

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We have dispatched the special train for Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. We thanked them for their visit and conveyed our best wishes.