US envoy visits Moscow for ceasefire talks that Russia says would help Ukraine
The diplomatic development coincided with a Russian claim that its troops had driven the Ukrainian army out of a key town in the Kursk border region.
An envoy of US President Donald Trump has arrived in Moscow for talks on an American-proposed 30-day ceasefire that Ukraine has accepted but which a senior Russian official said would help Kyiv by giving its weary and shorthanded military a break.
The diplomatic development coincided with a Russian claim that its troops had driven the Ukrainian army out of a key town in Russia’s Kursk border region, where Moscow has been trying for seven months to dislodge Ukrainian troops from their foothold.
Mr Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Russia for talks with officials on the US ceasefire proposal, according to an American official.
The renewed Russian military push and Mr Putin’s high-profile visit to his troops came as Mr Trump presses for a diplomatic end to the war.
The US lifted its March 3 suspension of military aid for Kyiv on Tuesday after senior American and Ukrainian officials made progress on how to stop the fighting during talks held in Saudi Arabia.
Mr Trump said Wednesday that “it’s up to Russia now” as his administration presses Moscow to agree to the ceasefire, which is being proposed three years after Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov would not comment on Moscow’s view of the ceasefire proposal.
“Before the talks start, and they haven’t started yet, it would be wrong to talk about it in public,” he told reporters.
Senior US officials say they hope to see Russia stop attacks on Ukraine within the next few days.
But Yuri Ushakov, Mr Putin’s foreign policy adviser, complained in televised remarks that a ceasefire would grant a “temporary break for the Ukrainian military”.
Speaking later to reporters in the Kremlin, Mr Ushakov reaffirmed that the US-proposed ceasefire would “give us nothing”, adding that it would “only give the Ukrainians a chance to regroup, consolidate their forces and keep doing the same in the future”.
Mr Ushakov would not comment on Mr Witkoff’s talks in Moscow on Thursday, saying that the parties had agreed to keep them confidential.
Mr Ushakov said that Moscow wanted a “long-term peaceful settlement that takes into account Moscow’s interests and concerns”.
His comments came a day after his phone call with US national security adviser Mike Waltz.
Mr Ushakov’s comments echoed statements from Mr Putin, who has repeatedly said a temporary ceasefire would benefit Ukraine and its western allies.
Ukraine has levelled similar accusations to Mr Ushakov’s, claiming Russia would use a truce to regroup and rearm.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky chided Russia on his Telegram messaging app on Thursday for what he said was its slow response to the ceasefire proposal, accusing Moscow of trying to delay any peace deal.
The US still has about 3.85 billion Us dollars in congressionally authorised funding for future arms shipments to Ukraine, but the Trump administration has shown no interest so far in using that authority to send additional weapons as it awaits the outcome of peace overtures.
By signalling its openness to a ceasefire, Ukraine has presented the Kremlin with a dilemma at a time when the Russian military has the upper hand in the war — whether to accept a truce and abandon hopes of making new gains, or reject the offer and risk derailing a cautious rapprochement with Washington.
The Ukrainian army’s foothold inside Russia has been under intense pressure for months from a renewed effort by Russian forces, backed by North Korean troops.
Ukraine’s daring incursion last August led to the first occupation of Russian soil by foreign troops since the Second World War and embarrassed the Kremlin.
Speaking to commanders on Wednesday, Mr Putin said that he expected the military “to completely free the Kursk region from the enemy in the nearest future”.
Mr Putin added that “it’s necessary to think about creating a security zone alongside the state border”, in a signal that Moscow could try to expand its territorial gains by capturing parts of Ukraine’s neighbouring Sumy region. This idea could complicate a ceasefire deal.
Ukraine launched the raid in a bid to counter the unceasingly glum news from the front line, as well as draw Russian troops away from the battlefield inside Ukraine and gain a bargaining chip in any peace talks. But the incursion did not significantly change the dynamic of the war.
