DONALD Trump’s peace envoys have raced to Kyiv just 24 hours after holding “constructive and useful” talks with Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
The crunch diplomatic negotiations come during a fragile three-day truce between Russia and Ukraine in which both sides have promised not to attack each other’s capitals.
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Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Kyiv this morning where they are due to hold talks with Ukraine’s top officials over the war.
The trip marks the first official visit to Ukraine for the two close Trump aids – but Moscow officials hinted that a meeting between Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and China’s tyrant ruler Xi Jinping may be on the cards.
Volodymyr Zelensky has said he and his aides were preparing for the talks and that he was ready for a “meaningful conversation”.
Witkoff and Kushner, the US president’s son-in-law, landed in Kyiv just hours after departing Moscow following “substantive” talks in the Kremlin.
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They said they hoped for “equally productive meetings” in Ukraine today.
A Putin aide described the three-hour talks on Saturday as “timely and highly useful” as the tyrant himself praised Trump’s peace efforts on state TV.
Donald Trump previously claimed that Witkoff and Kushner – who is also his son in law – are bringing with them “a proposal to end the war”.
But a Kremlin insider said Putin was desperate to capture more territory before any peace deal could be struck.
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He said: “There is no chance of reaching an agreement regarding the frontline until Putin finishes securing the remaining part of the Donetsk region.”
It comes after Zelensky declared a three-day ceasefire on Friday – which Putin swiftly violated by launching drone strikes mere hours later.
An 11-year-old child was among those killed in a strike on Saturday night during the time US envoys were being hosted by the Kremlin.
The Ukrainian president also accused Putin of drone-bombing two Kyiv airports on Friday to prevent Trump’s envoys from landing.
Zelensky said: “It is clear that these Russian strikes on airports are a reaction to discussions and preparations regarding the possibility of the American side using an aircraft to arrive in Ukraine and land at either Kyiv or Boryspil airport.”
On Thursday Putin told an international economic forum that “there are chances” a peace deal could be reached.
But the Russian tyrant showed no sign of backing down from his territorial demands in Ukraine – which have previously stunted peace negotiations.
After Zelensky’s first ceasefire lay violated, the leaders struck a new deal not to bomb one another’s capital cities ahead of the talks.
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Bloodthirsty Putin snubbed the second deal – and rained down drones on the headquarters of Ukraine’s state security service (SBU) on Friday.
At least seven people were injured in the attack on the building in Kyiv, across from the historic St Sophia Cathedral.
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called the attack a “major escalation” that came as potential peace talks were gaining momentum.
“Moscow launched this strike during a renewed push for peace – laying bare its true rejection of diplomacy,” he said in a post on X.
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More than 1.5million people have so far been killed in the war as the wail of air-raid sirens become a part of daily life in Kyiv.
On the frontline, Russia is struggling to capture new territory and Ukraine is standing strong in its fortress cities of Kramatorsk, Sloviansk and Kostiantynivka.
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But Putin’s war machine continues to churn – as nearly 250 smaller combat battles have been recorded in the last 24 hours.
Mad Vlad’s armies reportedly dropped 288 guided bombs, launched 87 air strikes and deployed more than 8,000 drones during this period.