War in Ukraine

Strikes on Ukraine Continue as US Delegation Meets Putin

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By Dolphine Chen/John Van Trieste

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A US delegation has met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on ending his country's war in Ukraine. But while a Kremlin aide says peace hasn't drifted further away from becoming reality, Russian attacks on Ukraine continue.

US Envoys Meet Putin in Moscow as War in Ukraine Continues

 

REPORTER:  

A Russian drone hits a residential building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk Tuesday. Rescuers will later find a woman’s body among the rubble. It’s another life lost in Russia’s nearly four-year-long invasion of Ukraine.

 

For people here, hope that peace will soon come.

 

While around 800 kilometers away, in Moscow, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to Russia, Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner have arrived for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, part of months of efforts by the Trump administration to broker an end to the war.

 

In the lead-up to the meeting, though, Putin’s attention seemed to be fixed on war—warning Europe against getting involved in a conflict with Russia and reacting to Ukrainian attacks on Russian shipping.

 

Vladimir Putin (PRESIDENT):  

Firstly, we would extend the range of our strikes on vessels and boats entering Ukrainian ports. Secondly, if (attacks on Russian tankers) continue, we would consider the possibility – I am not saying we will do it – but we would consider the possibility of retaliatory measures against vessels of those countries that help Ukraine carry out such pirate actions. The most radical solution is to cut Ukraine off from the sea, then piracy will be impossible for Ukraine in principle.

 

Before the Moscow meeting, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy—on a trip to Ireland—said he was somewhat optimistic but is still skeptical about Putin’s intensions.

 

Volodymyr Zelenskyy (PRESIDENT):  

Putin, I mean, now he is thinking how to find new reasons not to finish this war. And we count on pressure from the United States and the people of the world, I think so that they’re a very strong country.

 

REPORTER:  

But, on Tuesday, the long-awaited meeting took place over what a Kremlin aide says was five hours.

 

He doesn’t give much detail about what the two sides discussed. But he says one of the toughest issues—Russia's demands for Ukrainian territory—was one area the two sides still disagree on. Still, when a reporter asked whether peace was closer or further away, this is what he had to say:

 

Kremlin Aide:  

Not further. Not further, that's for sure. But there's still a lot of work to be done, both in Washington and in Moscow. That's about it. And contacts between Moscow and Washington will continue.

 

REPORTER:  

But for people in Ukrainian cities like Kramatorsk, site of Tuesday’s drone strike, “not further” doesn’t mean close. Russian attacks kept interrupting rescue efforts at the building hit earlier in the day. And as another round of talks about ending the war concludes, the war itself grinds on.