Productive talks held in Moscow on Ukraine: Trump

KABUL (Pajhwok): The US and Russia have held productive talks on a ceasefire deal in Ukraine, says US President Donald Trump.

US envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin on Trump’s proposal in Moscow on Thursday evening, the BBC reported.

In a Truth Social post, the US leader said the meeting provided “a very good chance that this horrible, bloody war can finally come to an end”.

He strongly urged Putin to spare the lives of Ukrainian troops, whom he described as surrounded by Russian forces, saying it would be a “horrible massacre” not seen since World War Two.

At key negotiations in Saudi Arabia earlier in the week, Ukraine accepted the US proposal for a ceasefire deal and Washington restored military assistance to Kiev.

For his part, the Russian president is said to have set out tough conditions for peace. He sees the US-suggested ceasefire as a good idea.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky slammed Putin for trying to sabotage diplomacy by putting forward unacceptable conditions.

PAN Monitor/mud