Vladimir Putin says "do our utmost to provide safety of the negotiators" in Ukraine peace talks

Russian President Vladimir Putin received American representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner at the Kremlin on Saturday as efforts to restart peace negotiations continued. He greeted the guests, asked them to relay his kind regards to President Donald Trump, described conditions in Ukraine as complicated, praised Trump’s attempts at a settlement, and offered them security assurances. The meeting came while both sides had escalated their aerial campaigns. Trump said Friday that Washington has a new proposal to end the war, but he did not explain it. Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy agreed to temporarily stop attacks on each other’s capitals, and Kyiv said it would hold off striking Moscow through Monday. The encounter matters because previous peace efforts have stalled and the conflict has continued for more than four years.