US envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in St. Petersburg on Wednesday morning, met by Kirill Dmitriev, ahead of talks with Vladimir Putin on a peace proposal. He came from Tuesday Oslo talks with Volodymyr Zelensky, leaders of Norway and Finland, and representatives from France, the UK, Germany, Poland, the EU and NATO. Jared Kushner joined by video and pressed Trump's demand that Ukraine halt strikes on Russian oil refineries. Zelensky said he is prepared to cease those strikes if Moscow reciprocates. Zelensky said US intelligence sharing "works now" and thanked the American side for early warnings on ballistic missiles. He described a "constructive discussion," said Ukraine is "ready for negotiations," and stated, "Of course, we are not losing this war, but we are losing people because Russia attacks." Alexander Stubb said "genuine progress" was made. Sergei Lavrov ruled out "any political concessions." Trump agreed to lift sanctions on Russian diesel sales and spoke to reporters at the White House after the Oslo news conference. Russian drone attacks killed at least 10 people on Tuesday and two more near Kharkiv overnight Wednesday. Russia controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory. Washington called "scandalous" Kyiv's claim the US had withheld intelligence. Senators last week sought an investigation into Starlink speed restrictions in Ukraine.
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“US envoy arrives in Russia ahead of meeting with Putin as Zelensky says intelligence sharing 'works now'”Right· 0 sources
No right coverage yet — a bubble gap.
Zelensky probably had to accept some losses in these talks for any deal to reach Moscow.
Witkoff might get Putin to listen but only if the terms include real security for Ukraine.
I hope the proposal forces Russia to pull back from occupied areas or this will drag on forever.
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