Russian general killed in explosion as Witkoff makes push on peace

Officials said talks in Moscow were constructive as the three-year war showed no signs of cooling

A view of the scene where Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, a deputy head of the main operational department in the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, was killed by an explosive device placed in his car in Balashikha, just outside Moscow. Picture: AP

Russia described talks between President Vladimir Putin and President Trump’s top negotiator as “constructive and useful” even as Russia defied US appeals to halt its attacks on Ukraine and a car bomb explosion in Moscow killed a senior Russian general on Friday.

The Trump administration’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, held a three-hour conversation with Putin on Friday, Russian officials said, a day after Trump on social media had beseeched his Russian counterpart to halt attacks on Ukraine: “Vladimir, STOP!”

Despite the plea, a Russian drone slammed into an apartment building in the Ukrainian city of Pavlohrad overnight killing three people, including a child. And, as Witkoff arrived in Moscow for his fourth visit aimed at brokering peace, a Russian general was killed in a suburb of the city. Officials in Moscow said the explosion bore the hallmarks of Ukrainian secret services.

Yuri Ushakov, a close adviser to Putin, said the Russian leader’s discussion with Witkoff focused on the possibility of resuming direct talks between Moscow and Kyiv. The conversation “made it possible to bring the positions of Russia and the United States closer together, not only as regards Ukraine but also on a number of other international issues,” he said.

As Trump intensifies efforts to broker peace, the three-year war shows no sign of cooling.

Moscow has stepped up aerial attacks across Ukraine in recent weeks, including a strike that killed 12 people in Kyiv on Thursday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said it had been carried out with a ballistic missile made in North Korea, in a sign of the ever-tightening alliance between Moscow and Pyongyang.

Russia this month launched spring offensives aimed at capturing more territory, Ukrainian commanders said. Putin also outlined plans to boost arms production this week in a clear indication that Russia remains on a war footing.

Vladimir Putin, right, and Steve Witkoff greet each other prior to their talks at the Kremlin. Picture: AP

Ukraine, seeing no sign that Russia is prepared to give up on its main aim of controlling its smaller neighbor, is insisting on a cease-fire before any talks on a final settlement, which Trump wants to push through at high speed.

“It is Ukrainians who are running out of patience, because it is us who are under attack, and no one else,” Zelensky said in South Africa on Thursday, before cutting his trip short because of Russia’s attack on Kyiv.

Ukrainian security services have carried out a string of assassinations targeting military officers and mouthpieces of Russia’s invasion as well as collaborators in Russia and occupied territories. There was no immediate comment from Kyiv.

Russian authorities said the general killed in a Moscow suburb Friday was Yaroslav Moskalik, deputy head of the main operations directorate of the general staff of the Russian armed forces. There was no immediate comment from Kyiv.cri

“There is no evidence that the war’s end is actually in sight,” said Volodymyr Dubovyk, director of the Center for International Studies in Odesa, Ukraine. “So, delivering concessions to Moscow just for the sake of pleasing Trump is hardly an option.”

Trump’s return to office marked a break with three years of US policy that focused on isolating Moscow and supporting Kyiv for as long as it was willing to keep fighting. But his promises on the campaign trail to end the war within 24 hours soon ran up against the hard realities of the war.

Russian forces continued to make steady gains on the battlefield, chewing through Ukrainian land that they will most likely keep in any peace deal. And US efforts to reach out to Moscow have only reduced the incentives for Russia to end its invasion as Putin feels the tide shift to his advantage. Significantly, Russia isn’t in need of Washington’s favor in the same way as Ukraine, which receives vital military support from the US.

For Kyiv, the consequences of antagonizing Trump are clear. The US suspended flows of military aid and some intelligence sharing to Ukraine after a combative encounter in the Oval Office between Zelensky, Trump and Vice President JD Vance. The relationship had already gotten off to a rocky start, with Trump branding Zelensky a dictator after he said the US president appeared to have fallen for Russian disinformation.

Ukraine has since sought to show willingness to compromise, hoping that the Trump administration will come to see that Putin is the main obstacle to peace. Ukrainian negotiators agreed to a US proposal for an immediate one-month cease-fire and signed up to a truce in the Black Sea, even though it was of little benefit to Kyiv. It also signed a minerals deal the US has pursued in a bid to recoup some of the costs of its military support.

Putin, in contrast, has repeatedly stalled, yet the Trump administration hasn’t moved beyond vague demands that Russia accept a deal.

Fueling Kyiv’s concerns are Trump’s assertions on the origins of the war, which repeat the Kremlin’s views. In an interview with Time published on Friday, Trump said he believed the war was caused by Ukraine trying to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

Trump admitted frustration with Putin following Russian strikes on Kyiv this week but said he would wait a week “to see if we have a deal.” If the bombing doesn’t stop, he warned, “things will happen.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated on Friday that Moscow was ready to reach a deal, but said there were “some specific points, elements of this deal which need to be fine-tuned.”

The Trump administration has threatened to abandon efforts to halt the war unless there is progress soon.

“If they do so, they will set themselves up for strategic failure, diplomatic embarrassment and further decline of the US power and influence, but that is their choice to make,” Dubovyk of the Center for International Studies said. “Zelensky has Ukraine’s fate to protect and to answer to the people of Ukraine.”

Wall Street Journal