Moscow anticipates talks before deadline

MOSCOW/KYIV — The Kremlin said on Monday it was anticipating "important" talks with US President Donald Trump's special envoy later this week, ahead of Trump's looming deadline to impose fresh sanctions on Moscow if it does not make progress toward a peace deal with Ukraine.

Trump confirmed a day earlier that Steve Witkoff will visit Russia, likely on "Wednesday or Thursday", where he is expected to meet President Vladimir Putin.

Three rounds of peace talks in Istanbul have failed to make headway on a possible ceasefire, with the two sides appearing as far apart as ever.

Moscow has demanded that Ukraine cede more territory and renounce Western support.

Kyiv is calling for an immediate ceasefire and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week urged his allies to pressure Moscow.

Trump's deadline is set to expire on Friday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that it considered the talks with Witkoff to be "important, substantial and helpful" and valued US efforts to end the conflict.

Putin has already met Witkoff multiple times in Moscow.

When reporters asked what Witkoff's message would be to Moscow, and if there was anything Russia could do to avoid the sanctions, Trump replied: "Yeah, get a deal where people stop getting killed."

The visit comes after Trump said that two nuclear submarines he deployed following an online row with former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev were now "in the region".

Trump has not said whether he meant nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed submarines. He also did not elaborate on the exact deployment locations, which are kept secret by the US military.

Caution urged

Russia, in its first comments on the deployment, urged "caution".

"Russia is very attentive to the topic of nuclear nonproliferation. And we believe that everyone should be very, very cautious with nuclear rhetoric," the Kremlin's Peskov said.

The chief of staff to Zelensky on Monday backed Trump's actions.

"The concept of peace through strength works," Andriy Yermak wrote on social media.

Both sides said on Monday they had downed dozens of enemy drones overnight in the latest barrage.

Separate Russian strikes on the southern Zaporizhzhia region, part of which it controls, killed four people, Ukrainian officials said on Monday.

The Russian defense ministry said on Tuesday that its forces have captured the village of Sichneve in Dnipropetrovsk region.

Agencies via Xinhua