Ukrainian chief negotiator Rustem Umerov and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner have held talks for the past two days, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
Speaking at one of the sites hit by the devastating Russian attack on Kiev as rescuers searched through the rubble, Zelensky said he still hoped Kushner and envoy Steve Witkoff would visit Ukraine, even though U.S.-backed peace efforts to end the war have been stalled for months.
Zelensky added that he hopes to meet Trump on the sidelines of the NATO summit in the Turkish capital Ankara next week.
U.S. President Donald Trump recently told reporters near the White House that he does not rule out the possibility of sending a US delegation to Moscow for talks on the war in Ukraine, quoted by Ukrinform.
Journalists asked the president if he was ready to send negotiators to Moscow to discuss a possible solution to the conflict. In response, Trump said that he did not rule out such a scenario. “Well, I would do it if I thought it would help. I would very much like to see an end to this war“, Trump noted.“
He did not provide details on the possible format of the talks or the potential composition of the delegation.”
In addition, Trump said that the countries plan to carry out a prisoner exchange in the near future.”
”I would like to see this stop, between Russia and Ukraine. This is the worst thing since World War II in terms of human casualties - 25,000 young soldiers every month. This is madness,“ he stressed.
The chief Ukrainian negotiator in the peace process, Rustem Umerov, discussed the issue of the return of Ukrainian prisoners of war held by Russia at a meeting with the US president's envoys - Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that a new conversation between the presidents of Russia and the United States, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, is not planned for now.