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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with U.S. presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Kyiv, Ukraine, on the 6th (local time). Witkoff and Kushner arrived in Kyiv immediately after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia, the previous day. / UPI

Steve Witkoff, special envoy for U.S. President Donald Trump, and Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, visited Kyiv, Ukraine, on the 6th (local time) to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for talks on ending the war between Russia and Ukraine, Reuters and AP reported.

The Trump envoy team traveled to Kyiv after holding three hours of closed-door talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow the previous day.

While no tangible breakthrough on a peace proposal emerged from the meeting with Putin, Witkoff said they received new concepts in Moscow and that meaningful progress had been made. He added that he expects a U.S.-brokered negotiation schedule to be announced soon.

The discussions covered air defense and energy assistance measures to safeguard the power grid ahead of winter, alongside post-war security arrangements and economic guarantees. In the latter part of the meeting, national security advisers from the United Kingdom, France, and Germany who were in the country joined the session to continue deliberations.

Zelenskyy characterized the talks with the U.S. delegation as very in-depth and expressed Ukraine's readiness to participate in trilateral negotiations.

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov also described the Moscow talks as constructive, while a White House official indicated that follow-up steps would be announced within weeks.

Despite ongoing diplomatic efforts, sharp differences persist between Russia and Ukraine on core issues.

Russia is demanding that Ukrainian forces withdraw from strongholds under their control in the eastern Donbas region, a term Kyiv firmly rejects.

Zelenskyy pointed to the Donbas issue as central to the conflict, maintaining that robust Western security guarantees are essential to deter renewed aggression.

Meanwhile, both sides agreed to a temporary mutual pause on air raids targeting Kyiv and Moscow, though fighting along the front lines continues.

Russia pressed ahead with strikes against other major Ukrainian cities, while Ukraine stated that it struck the Ryazan oil refinery deep inside Russian territory.

                                                                                                        Lee Jeong-eun