Ukraine says ready to observe ceasefire during negotiations

Kyiv: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has stated that Kyiv is prepared to implement a temporary halt to aerial strikes targeting Russian cities engaged in ongoing diplomatic negotiations."From now through the end of Saturday, as well as on Sunday and Monday, Ukraine is ready to refrain from strikes on Moscow," Zelensky announced on X following a telephone conversation with United States President Donald Trump’s special envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. The Ukrainian head of state added that his administration anticipates reciprocal measures from Moscow concerning Kyiv.Building upon these diplomatic efforts, US representatives Witkoff and Kushner scheduled a visit to the Ukrainian capital on Sunday, following their diplomatic engagements in Moscow, according to CNN.Transitioning directly to those preceding engagements in the Russian capital, President Vladimir Putin held substantive, constructive and extremely frank talks with the US envoys in a trusting atmosphere, according to Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov, as reported by Russia's Tass news agency early Sunday morning.Continuing from these discussions, Ushakov stated that the talks, centring on extremely serious issues, were conducted in a working-format setting and also took place informally over dinner, lasting a total of three hours and 10 minutes, per Tass reports.During these high-level talks, Putin reiterated Moscow's willingness to work with the United States towards finding political and diplomatic solutions to issues concerning Ukraine, reports Xinhua news agency.Expanding further on the dialogue, Ushakov noted that the Russian side presented its clear and comprehensive assessment of the situation developing 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 emphasised," he stated.Beyond efforts to resolve the Ukraine crisis, the discussions also covered economic issues and possible large-scale projects that could benefit both Russia and the US in detail, according to Ushakov.Describing the meeting as timely and highly beneficial for both sides, Ushakov stated it was agreed that the heads of state of Russia and the US would continue maintaining personal contact, while engagement through Witkoff and Kushner would also proceed.Linking back to their upcoming itinerary, Ushakov confirmed that the US envoys had agreed to convey during their scheduled contacts in Kyiv the following day the observations and assessments they received directly from Putin regarding prospects for a durable peaceful settlement.Prior to these high-level discussions, Putin had ordered a three-day pause in strikes against Kyiv as preparations were underway for contacts with the US negotiators, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov announced 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.Peskov advised against making predictions about possible settlement proposals and called for waiting for the outcome of Putin's talks with the US negotiators.