US Envoys Visit Ukraine and Russia Amid Intensified Efforts to End Ukraine War

Efforts to end the more than four-and-a-half-year-old Ukraine war have intensified. US President Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are due to visit Ukraine soon after Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed hope for a peace deal. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed the visit, but the Russian president's office has declined to comment on the visit. In Bishkek, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described the war as a "non-issue" in his recent talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and appealed for calm. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited Ukraine and met with President Zelensky. It is understood that Witkoff and Kushner will first visit Ukraine and then travel to Russia. As part of the peace effort, Witkoff has met the Russian president several times in the past. His four-hour meeting with Putin in January at the World Health Organization's medical warehouse near Moscow was targeted by Russia.