Ukraine president discusses peace talks with US envoys after deadly Russian strikes

Russian missile and drone attacks killed four people, including a pregnant woman, and injured six others in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, damaging residential buildings and shops. The strikes add to a series of major attacks this month, as Ukraine intensifies its drone strikes on Russian oil facilities in Crimea, causing fuel shortages.

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I am grateful for the readiness to work as actively as possible already in the weeks to come to give a boost to diplomacy for ending Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described his conversation with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner as "very positive." He expressed gratitude for their readiness to "work as actively as possible already in the weeks to come to give a boost to diplomacy for ending Russia’s war against Ukraine." These discussions followed Zelensky's trip to London, where he met with British, French, and German leaders to discuss ending the war. He called those talks "substantive" and is preparing for the upcoming G7 summit in France.

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substantive

US envoys Witkoff and Kushner have been in discussions to meet in Kyiv, which would mark their first official visit to Ukraine. They previously traveled to Moscow for talks with Russia in January. Peace talks led by the US have stalled, partly due to US focus on resolving the war with Iran. Zelensky's office previously published an open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin proposing in-person talks, but Putin quickly rejected the idea. Zelensky commented that "Half of them [around Putin] want to continue this war and the other half want to stop it."

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There ⁠are different people around Putin. Half of them want to continue this war and the other half want to stop it.