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a senior kremlin US special envoy Steve Witkoff is scheduled to visit Moscow next week in an effort to build consensus on ending the nearly four-year war between the two countries, the official confirmed on Wednesday. Russia And ukraine pick up speed.
But Yuri Ushakov, a foreign affairs adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, insisted Kremlin officials still have not seen the U.S. peace proposal, even though representatives of the United States, Russia and Ukraine held talks in Abu Dhabi earlier this week.
“Contacts continue, including by telephone, but so far no one has sat down at a round table and discussed it point-by-point. That has not happened,” Ushakov told Russian state media.
Ukrainian officials did not confirm whether US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who has played a high-profile role in peacekeeping efforts in recent weeks, would be in Kiev in the coming days, because trump The signal was given on Tuesday.
Trump’s plan to end the war became public last week, setting off a round of diplomatic maneuvering. The initial version appeared heavily inclined towards Russian demands to stop the invasion of its neighbor. After weekend talks in Geneva between US and Ukrainian officials, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the plan could be “feasible”, although key points remain unresolved. A Ukrainian official said Zelensky was expected to meet with Trump in the coming days.
Witkoff’s role in the peace efforts came under fresh spotlight Tuesday after a report indicated he coached Putin aide Ushakov on how the Russian leader should push Trump on a Ukraine peace plan.
Trump described Witkoff’s alleged approach toward the Russians in the call as “standard” negotiating procedure.
“They’ve got to sell it to Ukraine. They’ve got to sell Ukraine to Russia,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he flew to his home in Florida Tuesday night. “That’s what a dealer does.”
Russia’s dire war situation in Ukraine continued as a backdrop to the diplomatic tug-of-war.
The southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhia was hit by a massive Russian drone strike overnight, damaging more than 50 residential buildings, including a university dormitory packed with people, the head of the regional military administration Ivan Fedorov said on Wednesday. He said that at least 19 people were injured in the attack.
Meanwhile, Russian air defense shot down 33 Ukrainian drones overnight over various Russian territories and the Black Sea, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
European countries, concerned about Russia’s aggression and seeing their future at stake in negotiations over Ukraine, are struggling to raise their voices in talks led by the United States.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Wednesday that Europe wants the war to end as soon as possible.
“But an agreement reached by the great powers without the approval of Ukrainians and without the approval of Europeans will not be the basis for real, lasting peace in Ukraine,” he told lawmakers in Berlin.
“Europe is not a toy but a sovereign actor pursuing its own interests and values,” he said.
The EU’s executive head, Ursula von der Leyen, was encouraged by recent developments, saying there was “an opportunity here to make real progress” towards peace.
He stressed that any agreement must include future security guarantees for Ukraine. At the same time, he said any agreement could not impose limits on Ukraine’s armed forces or block its path to NATO membership. Those limits were part of the initial proposal.
“As a sovereign nation, there can be no limits on Ukraine’s armed forces that would leave the country vulnerable to future attacks,” he said during a speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.
“This is as much about deterrence as it is about the security of Europe, because the security of Ukraine is the security of Europe.”
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McNeil reported from Brussels. Katie Marie Davis in Manchester, England, and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine