Russia-Ukraine peace talks ‘down to one issue’, says US envoy Witkoff 

United States ‍envoy ‍Steve Witkoff says “a lot of progress” has been made in Russia-Ukraine peace talks and that negotiations are down to one last issue, as Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrives in Switzerland for talks with US ⁠President Donald Trump.

“I think we’ve got it down to one issue, and we have discussed iterations of that issue, and that means it’s solvable,” Witkoff told an audience at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the Swiss city of Davos on Thursday.

“If both sides want to solve this, we’re going to get it solved,” he said.

The US ‍envoy said he was headed to the Russian capital, Moscow, later in the day alongside Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Witkoff said the pair would not stay in Moscow overnight but would fly to Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital, where talks would continue in “military to military” working groups.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov ‍said Moscow appreciated Witkoff’s diplomatic efforts to end the war but declined to comment on his ⁠stated optimism that a deal was close. Earlier this week, the Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin would meet Witkoff during the visit.

Meanwhile, Trump and Zelenskyy were due to meet at 12:00 GMT on Thursday. Zelenskyy’s spokesman, Sergii Nykyforov, told journalists the president had arrived in Davos and was scheduled to address the WEF after meeting Trump.

Zelenskyy had said earlier this week that he would travel to Davos only if there was the opportunity to sign an agreement with Trump on resolving the nearly four-year war that included security guarantees and post-war reconstruction funding for Ukraine.

While it was unclear what the last-remaining sticking point was, Zelenskyy said in December the two main issues were the long-term fate of territory captured by Russia and areas still under Kyiv’s control that Moscow is demanding, and who gets control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, under Russian occupation in southern Ukraine.

Trump made an oft-repeated claim on Wednesday that Putin and Zelenskyy were close to a deal. “I believe they’re at a point now where they can come together and get a deal done. And if they don’t, they’re stupid – that goes for both of them,” he said after delivering a speech to the annual meeting of global elites.

The ⁠US has held talks separately with Russia, Ukraine and European leaders on various ‍drafts of a plan for ending the war, but no deal has yet been reached despite Trump’s repeated ‍promises to ⁠clinch one.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte praised Trump’s efforts to end the war but said Ukraine still needs military help as it continues to come under Russian missile and drone attacks.

“What we need is to keep our eyes on the ball of Ukraine. Let’s not drop that ball. And that means. Yes, great, peace talks. Fantastic. We will do everything to conclude them successfully, but that will not happen tomorrow,” he said.

The talks come as Russian attacks this week have left most of the Ukrainian capital without electricity, with residents of 3,000 buildings in Kyiv without heat in sub-zero temperatures.

Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper ‍said a Russian overnight drone attack struck a residential building, killing a 17-year-old.