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Trump Envoys Meet Putin After Eight Months, Reviving Questions About Ukraine Peace Talks

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow for about three hours to discuss the Ukraine war.
  • The envoys planned to travel to Kyiv to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, while Russia and Ukraine agreed not to attack Moscow and Kyiv during their visits.
  • The talks included possible next steps, economic issues and U.S.-Russia projects, but major differences remain over territory and sanctions.

Steve Witkoff returned to Moscow after an eight-month absence, sitting down with Vladimir Putin alongside Jared Kushner as attention turned again to the stalled effort to end the war in Ukraine.

Putin met the U.S. president’s special envoy and Trump’s son-in-law at the Kremlin on the 5th for roughly three hours. Witkoff’s visit was his eighth to Russia and his first since January. The two Americans left Russia immediately afterward and were scheduled to meet Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv the following day.

We are making substantial progress on the battlefield.

· Vladimir PutinPutin made the remark while receiving the U.S. envoys at the Kremlin.

The visits came with a temporary arrangement by Russia and Ukraine not to attack Moscow and Kyiv for three days beginning on the 5th. Putin told the envoys that Russia was making “substantial progress on the battlefield” and that the situation under discussion was “by no means simple.”

The situation we need to address today is by no means simple.

· Vladimir PutinPutin described the difficulty of the issues facing the talks.

Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign policy adviser, said the meeting went beyond a simple exchange of views on resolving the Ukraine crisis. He said the sides also discussed economic issues and mutually beneficial U.S.-Russia projects, calling the talks timely and useful. The White House said Witkoff and Kushner discussed “a concrete plan for next steps to be announced in the coming weeks.”

Acting Treasury sanctions official Jean Lang accompanied the delegation, raising the possibility that sanctions were discussed. Russia continues to demand that the United States lift sanctions regardless of the war, while Washington has rejected that position. The visit followed other recent contacts, including CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s trip to Moscow and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s talks with Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov at a G20 meeting.

The meeting went beyond a simple exchange of views on resolving the Ukraine crisis.

· Yuri UshakovPutin’s foreign policy adviser described the scope of the discussions.

The Trump administration had focused less on the Ukraine war after fighting began in Iran on February 28. But the article says mounting casualties, worsening attacks and the approaching winter have increased pressure to resume negotiations. Russia seeks the transfer of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, while Kyiv rejects the demand, keeping the peace process deadlocked.

A concrete plan for next steps to be announced in the coming weeks.

· White House officialThe official described what Witkoff and Kushner discussed with Putin.
About this summary

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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