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US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Moscow on Thursday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as indicated by Russian media reports.
Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev met the two American representatives at Vnukovo Airport, according to the Russian news agency Interfax. Additionally, Russia's state-run TASS news agency confirmed that the convoy carrying Dmitriev, Witkoff and Kushner left the airport following their touchdown in the Russian capital. The visit follows Kushner's announcement on Wednesday that he and the Middle East envoy would travel to Moscow after a round of talks in Abu Dhabi aimed at ending the Ukraine war concluded without a clear breakthrough, according to CNN. "Steve and I are going to travel to Moscow tomorrow to meet with President Putin to go over what was discussed today and to try to make more progress on some of the issues that we discussed because we see some openings and some opportunities there," Kushner said during a news conference in the Emirati capital. The visit comes after two days of negotiations involving Russian, Ukrainian and American delegations, marking the first direct engagement of this kind since February, as the Trump administration steps up efforts to resolve the nearly five-year conflict. In recent weeks, US President Donald Trump has announced significant concessions to Moscow, raising concerns across European capitals that Washington could seek to secure an end to the war on terms favourable to the Kremlin, CNN reported. Kushner said he and Witkoff would focus on finalising humanitarian relief and prisoner exchanges, while also seeking to bring European countries into the talks, a multilateral format that Moscow has consistently resisted. Although he holds no official position within the Trump administration, Kushner has taken on a prominent diplomatic role. He also confirmed that he and Witkoff would travel to Dublin to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and discuss proposals emerging from the Abu Dhabi talks. Commenting on Wednesday's talks, which concluded in less than two hours, senior Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky gave little indication that Moscow's position had changed. "In some areas, we reached a mutual understanding. In others, we did not. This conversation will, without a doubt, continue," Medinsky said. Meanwhile, Ukrainian negotiators reported progress on certain issues, including security matters. Senior negotiator Rustem Umerov touted progress but cautioned that significant differences remained between the two sides, CNN reported. European officials were also in the UAE capital this week for separate talks with Ukrainian and American representatives. Last week, Trump teased a new security deal for Ukraine that could involve European countries, prompting leaders across the continent to reiterate their demand for a greater role in the peace talks. Speaking at a G7 meeting earlier this week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington wanted to expand future talks to ensure European representatives were included at the main negotiating table, CNN reported. (ANI)
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