MOSCOW: US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and US envoy Steve Witkoff will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Tuesday for high-stakes talks on ending the Russia-Ukraine war.
The meeting — preceded by days of intense diplomacy from Florida to Geneva to Abu Dhabi — comes as Washington said it was “very optimistic” about ending Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II.
But Kyiv and its European allies worry that Witkoff, who has been criticised for his dealings with the Kremlin, will yet cede ground to Moscow.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky was in Ireland on Tuesday, shoring up European support, with the US-Russia meeting coming at a critical point for Kyiv.
Russian forces have advanced fast in November in eastern Ukraine, and Kyiv has been rocked by graft scandals that ended with the resignation of its top negotiator — Zelensky’s right-hand man.
In Ireland, Zelensky was briefed by Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov returning from Florida, who said “significant progress” was achieved in US talks but that more work was needed on “challenging” issues.
Zelensky has said he still expects to discuss key issues with the US president, including on territory, security guarantees and Ukraine’s reconstruction.
On Tuesday he said Moscow’s real motivation for the US talks was to ease Western sanctions, rather than pursue peace.
Ukraine likely to make concessions
Putin has demanded that Kyiv surrender territory Moscow claims as its own for any deal to be possible.
On Monday, Russia claimed that it has seized the Pokrovsk, the eastern Ukrainian town, and waved a flag in its centre.
The fall of Pokrovsk would be a symbolic win for Moscow, which calls the city by its Soviet name Krasnoarmeysk. On the eve of the Witkoff meeting, Putin put on military attire as his commanders told him it had been taken.
“We all understand just how important” the capture is, Putin said Monday.
Europe has worried that Washington — which has backed Kyiv with funding and weapons — and Moscow will strike a deal over its head or force Ukraine into making concessions.
“I am afraid that, you know, all the pressure will be put on the weaker side, because that is the easier way to stop this war when Ukraine surrenders,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned Monday.
Much of the diplomacy in recent days has been aimed at giving greater weight to Ukraine’s interests in any deal.
French leader Emmanuel Macron has said the coming days could be “decisive” for Kyiv and for Europe.
