US President Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff has arrived in Moscow, Russia for negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
The officials are in Moscow to discuss a potential ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine.
Special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived on Thursday morning to try to convince Russia to accept a 30-day ceasefire, which Ukraine agreed to earlier this week in talks with the US.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said talks were “taking place in a calm manner” – but rejected the proposal, saying it would amount to nothing more than a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military and a chance for it to regroup.
The American visit comes as the Russian military claimed to have recaptured Sudzha – a key town in the Kursk region that Ukraine invaded last year in a surprise attack.
President Vladimir Putin visited Kursk on Wednesday and met military commanders, who told him Russian troops had recaptured 86% of the area and were in the final stage of driving Ukrainian forces out.
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Speaking on Thursday, presidential aide Ushakov said the truce proposals were “nothing but a temporary respite for the Ukrainian military, nothing else.”
“Our aim is long-lasting peaceful settlement which takes account of our country’s legitimate interests and concerns. No one need such steps that only imitate peaceful actions,” he told Russian state TV.
He added that a “normal exchange of opinions” between Russia and the US was “taking place in a calm manner”.
Following the talks between US and Ukraine in Jeddah on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said it was now up to the US to convince Russia to agree to the “positive” proposal.
Yesterday Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the “ball is truly in their [Russia’s] court” and that the US believes the only way to end the fighting was through peace negotiations.
On Wednesday Trump said he had received “positive messages” about the possibility of a ceasefire.
“But a positive message means nothing,” he said. “This is a very serious situation.”
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