Ukraine-russia War Latest: Trump Envoy ‘Scared’ to Travel to Kyiv for Peace Talks Throwing Negotiations Into Doubt

Russia’s Tass news agency said Witkoff and Kushner were scheduled to visit Moscow and Kyiv on Saturday and Sunday. Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff is reportedly “too scared” to travel to Kyiv for peace talks throwing planned negotiations into doubt, according to a report in the Kyiv Independent. US negotiators are expected to visit Kyiv and Moscow in the coming days as Washington seeks to revive efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky previously said.

Russia’s Tass news agency afterwards said the visit by envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner was supposed to take place on Saturday and Sunday. The Kyiv visit has now been thrown into doubt amid claims that Witkoff is concerned about Russian warnings that he should not travel the Ukrainian capital, the Kyiv Independent reported. "The Russians don't want them to come here to Kyiv, and Witkoff is always sensitive to Russian sentiment, a source told the outlet.

"They're being told there that it's dangerous. The pair were due to arrive in Kyiv by plane, with the outlet previously reporting that Witkoff does not like taking the train to Kyiv. Zelensky previously said it was “very important” that US negotiators continue to be active in peace talks.

We’ve heard from Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, who said on Friday that the possibility of a Ukraine peace settlement remained, but that there was no concrete basis for it right now. He declined to confirm if US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were due to visit Moscow in the coming days. Asked to comment on reports that the envoys were expected to visit Russia and Ukraine over the weekend for peace negotiations, Peskov said any contacts would be announced when they take place.

A World Health Organization warehouse storing medical supplies in Ukraine has been struck during an air attack overnight in Kyiv Oblast, the WHO said on Friday. "Access to the site remains restricted due to heavy smoke and safety concerns, while assessments of possible damage and stock losses are ongoing, WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said. As we earlier reported, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said negotiators were expected in Moscow and Kyiv.

We’ve now heard from Russian news agency Tass, which says negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are set to visit the two countries on Saturday and Sunday, citing a source. The pair have spearheaded US efforts to broker a Ukraine peace agreement, but have so far not succeeded. Air Tanzania said it was temporarily suspending flights from Dar es Salaam to Moscow from Friday.

It has become the first airline to take this action after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warned this week that the skies over Russia were unsafe. The airline said on Facebook that it took the step after "a routine risk assessment of the operating environment along the route. Finland has said it is investigating whether a surveillance drone on the shore of its south coast has violated the Nordic country’s territory.

An investigation launched by the Border Guard authority seeks to determine where, when and how the aircraft entered Finnish territory and how it possibly crossed Finland's border. Preliminary examination suggests the aircraft is a Geoscan 701 type drone, which is used by both state and civilian actors. European country’s have repeatedly alleged drone incursions related to the Russia-Ukraine war in the past year, but the Border Guard said it could not confirm the drone's origin, operator or purpose at this stage.

The drone was intended for surveying and mapping and did not pose a danger to the public, the defence ministry said on Wednesday. Eighteen years before Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, the then German chancellor Gerhard Schröder was asked for his opinion on President Vladimir Putin. I am thoroughly convinced that the Russian president wants to transform Russia into a democracy and that he is doing so out of a deeply held conviction, he said in 2004. That same year, Putin was re-elected by a landslide in an election widely regarded as a sham.

His comments underlined a spirit of cooperation and friendship that had grown between the two countries since the end of World War Two. Germany’s economy hugely benefited from imports of cheap Russian gas, culminating in the construction of the Nord Stream gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea. That relationship has now hit an all-time low.