U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy mediating the Russia-Ukraine peace talks met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on the 6th (local time), following a previous meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

According to Reuters and AFP, U.S. Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, son-in-law of President Trump, visited Kyiv on this day to discuss a peace proposal with President Zelenskyy.

After a three-hour meeting that included a luncheon, Envoy Witkoff said, "It was a substantive and important discussion, and I am very encouraged."

Envoy Kushner stated, "We hope this visit leads to a newly advanced proposal."

Later in the day, they are scheduled to hold an additional meeting involving the national security advisors of the United Kingdom, France, and Germany.

This marks the first time U.S. envoys have visited Kyiv.

While they have been mediating peace discussions between the two countries, they faced criticism for visiting Moscow eight times while relatively neglecting the stance of Ukraine.

Earlier, President Zelenskyy emphasized on social media, "Our proposals are ready, and it is important to negotiate substantively and realistically in a coordinated manner," adding, "Security guarantees are necessary."

The day before, they met with President Putin at the Kremlin to discuss the peace plan.

The Russian side announced that it conveyed its existing stance to the U.S. side that it can seize the stalled eastern Donbas region by force.

Earlier this year during the negotiation process, Ukraine rejected Russia's demand to cede the Donbas region and has maintained proposals such as freezing the current front lines.

Interest is focused on the possibility of resuming peace negotiations as the back-to-back meetings between the U.S. envoys and Presidents Putin and Zelenskyy take place amid escalating clashes between the two sides.

The peace talks mediated by the U.S. were suspended in February of this year in the wake of the Middle East crisis.

The two sides agreed not to attack each other's capitals for three days to facilitate the consecutive meetings of the U.S. envoys.

However, with neither side securing a clear upper hand on the front lines and both maintaining their respective positions, prevailing observations suggest that a long road remains before an actual end to the war.

On the night before the U.S. envoys' visit to Kyiv, both sides continued attacks targeting areas outside their capitals.

According to regional Russian authorities, Ukrainian forces attacked the Ryazan oil refinery, one of Russia's largest oil refineries.

The Russian military announced that it struck a Ukrainian cargo ship in the Black Sea and two Ukrainian military logistics centers in the Odesa region.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)