Zelensky speaks with Trump envoys in effort to revive stalled Ukraine talks

Kyiv, Ukraine - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday he had spoken with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in a bid to revive efforts to end the war with Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (r) spoke with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner (l) in the hopes of reviving stalled talks to end the war with Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (r) spoke with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner (l) in the hopes of reviving stalled talks to end the war with Russia.  © Collage: URS FLUEELER / POOL / AFP & GENYA SAVILOV / AFP

US-led talks on resolving the conflict have stalled since Washington's attention has turned to the Middle East, while Russia stuck to its hardline demand that Ukraine cede territory.

"I just spoke with President Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. It was a good, important conversation on how to reinvigorate diplomacy and bring peace closer," Zelensky said on X.

"Peace is needed – peace with dignity, and Ukraine has long been ready for it," he added.

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Meanwhile, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is scheduled to meet Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday, on the sidelines of a summit in Manila, to discuss the wars in Ukraine and Iran.

In recent months, Kyiv has appeared to stall Moscow's grinding offensive and has substantially expanded its drone strikes against Russia, disrupting ordinary life there in the war's fifth year.

Moscow has meanwhile escalated its deadly missile strikes against Kyiv, launching dozens of hard-to-intercept rounds as Ukraine struggles with depleted air defense stocks.

The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people and spiraled into Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II.

Russia has urged Ukraine to withdraw from the parts of the eastern Donbas region it still holds as a precondition for any peace deal. Kyiv has rejected the demand.

Cover photo: Collage: URS FLUEELER / POOL / AFP & GENYA SAVILOV / AFP

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