Ukrainian negotiators who met Mr Zelensky in Dublin on December 2nd to debrief him were unsurprised that the Moscow talks fizzled out. “We have lots of convergence with the US ,” said Sergiy Kyslytsya,

LONDON -- The White House said it's is "very optimistic" ahead of special envoy Steve Witkoff's meeting in Moscow on Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as U.S. officials continue their push to end Russia's war against Ukraine.

The convoy with flashing lights was photographed by the Reuters agency as it left Moscow's Vnukovo Airport. Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that the meeting between the Russian dictator and Witkoff would begin around 5 p.

President Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff will travel next week to Moscow as momentum builds for a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine.

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on Wednesday that Russia's recent battlefield progress in Ukraine had what he described as a positive impact on peace negotiations held with U.S. envoys in Moscow a day earlier.

After being blindsided by President Donald Trump’s 28-point plan last month, some Europeans have expressed extreme disquiet at being apparently sidelined in talks.

High-level talks between Russian and US officials in Moscow centered on Ukraine's NATO aspirations, a key Russian security concern. While no breakthrough on peace negotiations was achieved, American representatives conveyed readiness to consider Russian proposals.

By bnm Gulf bureau An image purportedly showing ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad walking in Moscow's Red Square with a woman circulated widely on social media before being revealed as artificially generated.