Putin meets Witkoff, Kushner for talks on Ukraine peace
Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner in the Kremlin on Tuesday, discussing potential solutions to end the deadliest European conflict since World War Two.
Just before the meeting, Putin warned Europe that it would face swift defeat if it went to war with Russia, and he dismissed European counter-proposals on Ukraine as being absolutely unacceptable to Russia, News.Az reports citing Reuters.
Trump has repeatedly said he wants to end the war, but his efforts, including a summit with Putin in Alaska in August and meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, have not brought peace.
A leaked set of 28 U.S. draft peace proposal, opens new tab emerged last week, alarming Ukrainian and European officials who said it bowed to Moscow's main demands on NATO, Russian control of a fifth of Ukraine and restrictions on Ukraine's army.
European powers then came up with a counter-proposal, and at talks in Geneva, the United States and Ukraine said they had created an "updated and refined peace framework" to end the war.
A smiling Putin told Witkoff he was glad to see him and asked him about his and Kushner's walk around Moscow, which included a stroll across Red Square past the mausoleum of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin to the towers of the Kremlin.
"It is a magnificent city," Witkoff told Putin, along with foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov and Putin investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev. Both sides had interpreters.
The Kremlin talks were ongoing past Moscow midnight after more than four hours.
"Our people are over in Russia right now to see if we can get it settled. Not an easy situation, let me tell you. What a mess," Trump said at a cabinet meeting in Washington, adding that there were casualties of 25,000 to 30,000 per month in the war.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has led efforts to recraft the original peace plan to account for Ukrainian and European concerns, said Witkoff was trying to end the war.
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