OT subject but worth a main-stream read- OT News Feeds...

lousubcap

Thursday Russia-Ukraine update:

"President Donald Trump is in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum, where he said he will meet with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, adding that he believes both the Ukrainian leader and Russian President Vladimir Putin want to end the nearly four-year war in Ukraine and that a deal is now “reasonably close”.

President Trump also told reporters in Davos that he had invited Putin to his Gaza “peace board” because he wants to see powerful people join the initiative, according to the TASS news agency.

Putin said on Wednesday that Russia’s foreign minister was studying Trump’s invitation to join the board and would reply in due course.

Putin, quoted by Russian news agencies at a meeting of Russia’s Security Council, said he believed the proposed “board of peace” was primarily designed to deal with a Middle East peace settlement and that Russia was prepared to provide $1bn – the amount proposed by Trump for long-term membership of the board – from Russian assets that had been frozen in the US, due to its war on Ukraine.

Ukrainian negotiator ‍Rustem Umerov said on Telegram that he met with two of Trump’s top envoys, ​Steve Witkoff and Jared ‍Kushner, in Davos.

Witkoff and Kushner also met with Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev in Davos on Wednesday, according to TASS, with Witkoff calling the meeting “very positive”."