Putin’s talks with US envoys constructive, extremely frank: Kremlin

Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin had substantive, constructive and extremely frank talks with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in a trusting atmosphere in Moscow, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said early Sunday morning.

Ushakov said the discussion on extremely serious issues took place in a working-format setting and informally over dinner.

Putin reaffirmed Russia’s readiness to continue joint work with the United States in search of political and diplomatic solutions to the Ukrainian issues, reports Xinhua news agency.

Ushakov said that the Russian side provided clear and comprehensive assessments of the situation unfolding amid the special military operation.

“In particular, note was taken of the real advances made by the Russian army within the combat zone; confidence was expressed in achieving the stated objectives, and the need to eliminate all root causes of the conflict was emphasized,” he noted.

The talks were not confined to an exchange of views on resolving the Ukraine crisis. Economic matters and potential large-scale, mutually beneficial Russian-US projects were also discussed in considerable detail, said Ushakov.

Overall, the negotiations can be described as timely and highly beneficial for both sides. It was confirmed that the heads of state of the two countries will maintain personal contact going forward, and that work through Witkoff and Kushner will continue.

The conversation lasted three hours and 10 minutes.

Ushakov said that the US envoys pledged that during their upcoming contacts in Kiev tomorrow, they would relay observations and assessments they had received directly from the Russian president regarding reaching a durable peaceful settlement to the Ukraine conflict.

Earlier, Putin has ordered a three-day halt to strikes against Kyiv, during preparations for contacts with US envoys, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday.

“The meeting with President Putin will indeed take place, and there will be talks. As a rule, such meetings have been quite lengthy in the past. Let us wait and see. We will certainly keep you informed,” Peskov told journalists.

He also urged against making predictions about settlement proposals and called for waiting for the outcome of Putin’s meeting with the US negotiators,

IANS