Witkoff, Kushner reach Kyiv after meeting Putin as Washington steps up Ukraine peace push

US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner reached Kyiv on Sunday for their first official visit to Ukraine, as Washington renewed efforts to find a way to end the war that began with Russia's full-scale invasion more than four years ago.The visit came a day after the two American representatives held more than three hours of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Their trip to Kyiv is part of a renewed diplomatic effort by the Trump administration, even as Russia and Ukraine continue to launch attacks against each other.US efforts to broker an end to the conflict had slowed in recent months, with the Trump administration turning much of its attention towards the war involving Iran.The situation on the battlefield remains difficult. Russia has increasingly used fast-moving, jet-powered drones in its attacks, while Ukrainian forces continue to face Russian troops along a front line stretching about 1,250 kilometres.Zelenskyy says Ukraine is ready for talksUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv was prepared to hold a serious discussion with Witkoff and Kushner.“We are interested in bringing the end of the war closer. Peace is needed. Security guarantees are needed. A just and sustainable postwar peace is needed. Our proposals are prepared,” Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram.The two US envoys travelled to Kyiv by train and were received by senior Ukrainian officials at the railway station. They later met Zelenskyy during a ceremony at St Sophia Square.Kyrylo Budanov, Zelenskyy's chief of staff, said representatives from Ukraine's European partners, including France, Germany and the United Kingdom, were also present in Kyiv.Moscow meeting ends without major breakthroughWitkoff and Kushner met Putin in Moscow on Saturday, but neither side announced a major breakthrough after the closed-door discussions.Putin's foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov called the talks constructive, frank and useful, but did not reveal any specific agreement or progress.According to Ushakov, Russia presented its “comprehensive assessment” of the military situation in Ukraine. However, the discussions also covered issues beyond the war.“Economic issues and potentially large, mutually beneficial joint projects for Russia and America were discussed in considerable detail,” he said.Witkoff and Kushner, who is US President Donald Trump's son-in-law, had last visited Moscow in January, when they also met Putin at the Kremlin.Fighting continues despite diplomatic effortsThe diplomatic activity has taken place against the backdrop of continued attacks by both sides.Putin and Zelenskyy had agreed to pause attacks on each other's capitals during the talks. However, officials reported exchanges of fire overnight into Sunday.Ukraine's State Emergency Service said Russian attacks in several regions killed one person and injured at least 10 others.A Russian drone attack in Zaporizhzhia killed a 74-year-old man and wounded three others. Another drone strike damaged an apartment building in the Khmelnytskyi region and injured seven people.Ukraine's air force said it had intercepted 82 of the 108 drones launched by Russia overnight, along with six missiles.Russian authorities also reported a Ukrainian drone attack. A man was killed and a woman seriously injured after a drone struck a vehicle in Russia's Belgorod border region.Russia's Defence Ministry said its air defences had destroyed 258 Ukrainian drones overnight across 14 Russian regions, Crimea and the waters of the Black and Azov seas.Ukrainians remain divided over peace prospectsThe renewed diplomatic activity has brought some hope in Ukraine, although many remain doubtful that it will lead to an immediate end to the fighting.In Kyiv, dozens of people gathered for the daily 9 am moment of silence held across the country to remember Ukrainian soldiers who have died in the war.Among them was 67-year-old Nataliia Lipei, whose son Viktor was killed in December 2022. Despite health problems, she has travelled to different cities to take part in the commemorations. She said she hoped the latest meetings would finally help end the conflict.“I hope these steps and these meetings will definitely produce results, because there has been so much bloodshed and so many deaths here that we have to stop all of this,” Lipei told The Associated Press.Others were far less optimistic. Oleksandr Pastukhov, a 27-year-old video editor who attended the commemoration, said previous diplomatic efforts had failed to produce lasting results.“We’ve already seen delegations like this come here before,” he said. “We’ve seen this so-called ceasefire for three days, which ended after just a couple of hours, and now we’re supposed to naively think that two people will come and change something.”Pope Leo XIV also renewed his call for peace in Ukraine during his Sunday prayer at the Vatican. He said he hoped the latest diplomatic efforts would lead to meaningful progress.“I hope that the efforts undertaken in recent days to resume negotiations will bear concrete fruit and make way for diplomacy," he told the gathered faithful in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican.Catch the latest World News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.