US hopes diesel deal can 'soften' Moscow on peace talks, sources say

NEW YORK/ WASHINTON/ KYIV:

President Donald Trump's envoys told Ukrainian officials on Friday that a deal to allow Russian diesel exports is part of a bid to draw Russia back to negotiations after the failure of previous efforts to launch sustained talks to end the war, three people familiar with the meeting told Reuters.

Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner told the Ukrainians in a meeting in Miami that Russian President Vladimir Putin was not prepared to negotiate an end to his 4 1/2-year-old war in Ukraine and that the deal announced last week could help restart trilateral talks, said two of the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The third person said the US relayed to the Ukrainians that the diesel deal could help "soften" Moscow's position in part because it "sends a signal that Trump is open to do things" with Russia. Reuters