Putin Wraps Moscow Talks With Witkoff and Kushner After Two and a Half Hours

The meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner wrapped up in Moscow on Thursday, running about two and a half hours, according to Russian media. Witkoff and Kushner arrived in the Russian capital earlier in the day to push the Ukraine peace process forward.

Putin used the sit-down to pitch a localized ceasefire in Kostyantynivka, in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine. He described it as a humanitarian zone modeled on one already set up in Oleshky in southern Ukraine, said Russia controls the city, and estimated five days to clear mines there. He also promised to guarantee the safety of the humanitarian mission.

The Russian president said Moscow is ready for dialogue, but aimed sharp words at Europe, declaring that European countries rejected US President Donald Trump's initiative for a new security system on the continent. He added that it is up to European countries and Europeans themselves to decide whether they want peace or war. Putin also repeated that Moscow views foreign troops on Ukrainian soil as legitimate targets and called their presence unacceptable, saying the only demarcation line with Ukraine is the state border.

On the US side, Witkoff said he was happy that work toward peace had resumed in a trilateral format, and that the Russian and Ukrainian delegations worked effectively during two days of talks in Abu Dhabi. He noted that European representatives did not take part in those trilateral talks but were informed about them, and said an agreement on a prisoner exchange was reached. Both envoys stressed positive momentum from Abu Dhabi and Washington's willingness to keep working toward peace.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, speaking at the European Political Community meeting in Dublin, pressed Putin to finally agree to joint discussions on Ukraine and insisted European representatives must be at the table for any negotiations. Merz said he noted with some satisfaction a growing willingness on the Russian side to recognize that one cannot talk about Europe without involving Europe, calling that good news for a start.