Movement

A top US envoy on Monday touted progress in weekend discussions with Ukraine and Russia, raising the prospect of reviving three-way peace talks to end Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky met separately with top US envoys in a renewed push to end the fighting, which began when Russian forces invaded neighbouring Ukraine more than four years ago.

"Substantive progress was made, including movement on scheduling additional trilateral talks," US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff wrote on X. Witkoff travelled to Russia and Ukraine over the weekend alongside negotiating partner Jared Kushner. Sunday's appearance in Kyiv was their first official trip to the Ukrainian capital.

"Too early to say"

A senior Ukrainian official told AFP that the two envoys had brought new and "more effective" proposals on ending the war, but Zelensky warned that fighting appeared likely to continue into the winter. The Kremlin did not rule out three-way talks. "But it is too early to say anything about the venue or the exact dates at this stage," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Negotiators from Moscow and Kyiv last met for US-mediated talks in Geneva in February, but did not reach an agreement on territorial issues. The UN rights chief Volker Turk expressed alarm on Monday at reports of fully autonomous drones killing people in Ukraine, and called for an urgent ban on weapons that can kill without human involvement.