Russian missiles hit Kyiv as Moscow signals readiness for peace talks
Russian missiles struck Kyiv overnight, wounding six people and forcing residents into shelters, Ukrainian authorities said Thursday, hours after Moscow signalled readiness to resume US-mediated peace talks. President Donald Trump said negotiations were closer than ever to ending the war, though the Kremlin expressed doubts over Ukrainian and European proposals.
Ushakov said Witkoff briefed Putin on "some new aspects in the approaches of the Europeans and Kyiv" from the Oslo meeting, adding though that "there wasn't really much substance in them".
A summit between Putin, Trump and China's Xi Jinping was also being prepared in China's Shenzhen for next month, Ushakov said, calling it "the first such meeting in history."
During their three-hour meeting, Witkoff praised Putin for granting Trump's request to free Hubbard, a retired English teacher in his 70s who had always denied the charges he was a "mercenary" fighting for Ukraine.
"You talk so much about my president, President Trump, being a humanitarian -- you are a humanitarian also, sir, and I salute that," Witkoff said.
Witkoff said on social media that the talks with Putin were "constructive" but that "there is still important work left to do". Discussions would continue between the US, Ukraine and Russia at the technical level, he added.
Trump returned to power in January 2025 promising to end the war in 24 hours -- but more than a year of US-led talks have failed to produce a breakthrough, with tens of thousands killed.
In recent days, a frustrated Trump has once again pivoted away from Ukraine and back to Putin, trumpeting what he said was a deal for Russia to sell diesel and reduce prices sent soaring by his Iran war.
Trump also delayed the imposition of sanctions on Russia's war machine -- a decision he defended on Wednesday as necessary to secure Hubbard's release.
"If you would've put those sanctions on... you could forget about him. You'd never see him again," Trump told reporters at the White House.
