Putin Sees Peace 'Chance' as US Envoys Plan Kyiv Visit

Putin says there is a chance of a Ukraine peace deal as Zelenskiy says US negotiators Witkoff and Kushner will visit Moscow and Kyiv in coming days.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok on Thursday that there is a chance of reaching an agreement to end the war in Ukraine, saying countries including the United States and China are ready to support a settlement while insisting the problem 'must be resolved by the countries involved in the conflict.' In Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said preliminary dates had been set for US negotiators to visit. 'There will be a meeting with them in Moscow and in Kyiv. We are expecting a meeting with them in the coming days,' Zelenskiy said in his nightly address, adding it is important that America remains active.

After four and a half years of Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two, it is rare for either side to offer an upbeat assessment of peace prospects, and the last US-mediated talks were held in February. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told reporters in Kyiv he saw a 'new dynamic' coming in peace efforts, with a return to active political and diplomatic engagement in many capitals, though he declined to elaborate. Markets reacted quickly: Chicago wheat futures dropped by more than 2% on Putin's comments, according to Reuters.

US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who have spearheaded the effort to broker an agreement, were last in Moscow in January and have yet to visit Kyiv, according to Reuters. CNN reports that Putin explicitly favored the pair as interlocutors, calling them 'sincere people' close to President Trump and saying both are 'always welcome guests.' Trump, for his part, told GB News, 'I just want to see that end. I think we'll get it,' a day after telling reporters he wanted a summit with Putin when the Kremlin leader is ready for a peace deal.

Neither side gave concrete reasons to expect progress. Putin said Ukrainian attacks on civilian merchant ships and 'reported threats of attacks on civilian aircraft' were 'acts of state terrorism' that 'complicate the prospects for bilateral peace talks.' Zelenskiy this week warned airlines and insurance companies that Ukrainian drone operations had made Russian skies dangerous, while saying Ukraine would target only Russian military facilities and not threaten civilian aircraft. On Wednesday, Ukraine urged the UN's aviation agency to ask member states to ban operations in Russian airspace, per Reuters.

The diplomatic thaw contrasts with stark warnings from the alliance. According to CNBC, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Wednesday that Russia is becoming 'increasingly reckless,' citing missiles and drones crossing Europe's eastern flank and an alleged Russian hybrid attack at Germany's Leipzig airport last month. 'If Russia thinks we will be divided by the threat, or if they think we will be deterred from supporting Ukraine, they are mistaken,' Rutte said alongside European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. CNN's analysis of Putin's recent bellicose remarks concluded that his stance on continuing the war remains as hard as ever.

Putin said contacts with Ukraine continue on an ongoing basis, 'primarily through intelligence channels,' though he said it was difficult to say whether they were leading to an agreement. The diplomatic signals come as the fighting has intensified rather than eased: AAP reports that overnight Russian drones tore into central Kyiv, wounding 11 people and damaging residential and university buildings on the seventh day of nearly round-the-clock attacks. Ukraine is also bracing for a new season of strikes on energy infrastructure amid a critical shortage of US-designed missile interceptors, per AAP.