MOSCOW, Jan. 23– The latest talks held here between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. presidential special envoy Steve Witkoff were constructive, extremely candid, and in every sense useful for both Russia and the United States, Russian Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov said Friday.
The talks on Thursday night lasted over three and a half hours, the Kremlin press service reported, noting peace in Ukraine was the main focus of the talks, which marked the seventh face-to-face meeting between Putin and Witkoff on the topic.
Ushakov and Russian presidential special envoy Kirill Dmitriev were among the Russian officials attending the talks. The U.S. delegation also included U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner as well as White House staff member Josh Gruenbaum.
Putin had previously said that the talks were also intended to discuss the U.S. invitation for Russia to join the Trump-proposed “Board of Peace,” and the fate of Russian assets frozen in the United States.
Trump formally launched his so-called “Board of Peace” on Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The move has drawn concerns that it could undermine the primacy of the United Nations and the established multilateral framework for peacekeeping.
Some major global powers and traditional U.S. allies have declined to join the board. Under the current plan, Trump would serve as the board’s inaugural chairman, a position he could hold for life. Trump said permanent members must each contribute 1 billion U.S. dollars to fund the board. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
