Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday (local time) said US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff told him that Russia is “ready to negotiate” when they met him in Kyiv after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.“Russia really thinks that this winter can help them break us. But the Trump administration could pressure Putin to de-escalate… Putin doesn’t want to upset President Trump,” Zelenskyy told US news outlet Axios.“The US envoys told me that the Russians are ready to negotiate,” he added.Elaborating on his discussions with Witkoff and Kushner, the Ukrainian leader noted that the weekend talks included US proposals concerning energy facilities, grain shipments, and oil and gas exports, but declined to provide further details.“The US is seeking to restart negotiations between Ukraine and Russia and wants to ensure the coming winter is different from previous ones. The aim is to make progress before or during winter to ‘bring (the) sides closer to peace,’” Zelenskyy said.Russia has targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure every winter since the war began in February 2022, leaving millions without electricity and heating as temperatures have fallen as low as -20°C.The visits to Moscow and Kyiv by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner mark Washington’s latest effort to break the diplomatic deadlock in Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.US President Donald Trump had repeatedly claimed during his campaign that, if elected, he would end the Russia-Ukraine conflict “in 24 hours.” Last August, more than six months into his second and final term, Trump hosted Putin in Alaska to discuss the conflict, marking their first meeting since Trump returned to office. However, the meeting ended without any significant breakthrough.(With AP inputs)
