Ukraine war live: Trump envoy Steve Witkoff set to meet Vladimir Putin in Moscow amid US push for peace deal

Talks come after Witkoff led US discussions with Ukraine at weekend amid European concerns that Kyiv will be pressured to make concessions to Moscow

• US-Russia talks may pile pressure on Kyiv to make concessions, says EU foreign policy chief

• See all our Ukraine war coverage

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of war in Ukraine as Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff is to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin in Moscow amid Washington’s push to reach a peace deal.

Witkoff’s trip comes after he led a US delegation in talks with Ukraine at the weekend in Florida, three and a half years after Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Russian military commanders told Putin in comments reported on Monday that Russian forces had captured the frontline Ukrainian towns of Pokrovsk – a key logistics hub – and Vovchansk and were advancing elsewhere, which the Russian president hailed as successes to enable further gains. Ukrainian officials have made no acknowledgement that either place has fallen into Russian hands.

Zelenskyy said on Monday that Russia must not be rewarded for its invasion. “We also need to ensure that Russia itself does not perceive anything it could consider as a reward for this war,” the Ukrainian said a press conference with the French president, Emmanuel Macron.

The Ukrainian president also held calls with a dozen other leaders, including the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, and the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, as he sought to rally support from European allies. “Peace must become truly durable,” Zelenskyy wrote on X. “The war must end as soon as possible.”

Ukraine’s negotiator Rustem Umerov said “significant progress” had been achieved in two days of talks with Witkoff and other US officials in Florida but that more work was needed on “challenging” issues.

The Moscow talks also come as Kyiv has faced headwinds from a corruption scandal that has rocked Zelenskyy’s inner circle and forced the dismissal last week of his top negotiator and chief of staff, Andriy Yermak.

A Russian missile attack killed four people and wounded nearly two dozen others on Monday in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, the regional governor said.

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Source: www.theguardian.com

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