US envoys headed to Russia and Ukraine to relaunch mediation — SkimNews
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- Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are expected in Moscow September 5-6 and in Kyiv in the coming days, per TASS and Zelenskyy — marking their first-ever visit to Kyiv after their last Moscow trip in January.
- Zelenskyy said Ukraine is ready for "substantive, high-level negotiations" and stressed it is "very important" that America remain "actively engaged," calling the return of talks a "new dynamic."
- US mediation efforts had "all but halted" since the US and Israel launched war on Iran in March, and Washington has previously been accused of "adopting Russian narratives and demands" — primarily that Kyiv hand over territory.
- Putin said at an economic forum in Russia's Far East that "there is a chance" of progress, acknowledging that the US and China "are ready to support a peace deal" — a notable softening from his recent claim that negotiations were "frozen."
- Previous talks in January stalled on the territorial issue, with Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov stating "reaching a long-term settlement can't be expected without solving the territorial issue."
- Fighting persists alongside the diplomatic push: overnight Russian strikes killed at least three in Ukraine — including two police officers in Dnipro — while Ukraine hit the Black Sea resort of Sochi with a large-scale drone strike, with fires reported.
Why it matters: The territorial question — which Russia's own envoy flagged in January as the dealbreaker — remains unresolved, and Washington has previously been accused of backing Russia's framing on it. With Trump now dispatching the same two envoys to both capitals after an eight-month gap, the test is whether this round produces movement on the one issue that killed the last one, or simply recycles the same impasse while overnight strikes continue killing civilians on both sides.
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