US President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and son-in-law Jared Kushner are due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow for talks on a possible way to end the deadliest European conflict since World War II.
Mr Trump has repeatedly said he wants to end the war in Ukraine, which his administration casts as a "bloodbath" and "a proxy war".
However, his efforts so far, including a summit with Mr Putin in Alaska in August, have not yet brought peace.
A leaked set of 28 US draft peace proposals emerged last week, raising concern among Ukrainian and European officials who felt it bowed to Russia's key demands on NATO, Moscow's control of a fifth of Ukraine and restrictions on Ukraine's army.
European powers then gave their counter-proposal for peace and at talks in Geneva, the US and Ukraine said they had created an "updated and refined peace framework" to end the war.
Mr Putin said the discussions so far are not about a draft agreement but about a set of proposals that he said last week "could be the basis for future agreements".
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Mr Witkoff's meeting with the Russian president would be in the second half of today, but he refused to be drawn on Russia's red lines, saying that megaphone diplomacy was not helpful.
A White House official said Mr Witkoff would be joined by Mr Kushner for his trip to Russia.
Mr Putin has repeatedly said he is ready to talk peace but that if Ukraine refuses an agreement, then Russia's forces will advance further and take more Ukrainian territory.
Russian forces control more than 19% of Ukraine, or 115,600 sq/km, up one percentage point from two years ago, and have advanced in 2025 at the fastest pace since 2022, according to pro-Ukrainian maps.
Russian military commanders told Mr Putin yesterday that Russian forces had captured the frontline Ukrainian towns of Pokrovsk and Vovchansk.
US officials say more than 1.2 million men have been killed or injured in the war.
Neither Ukraine nor Russia discloses their losses.
Since the US draft proposals emerged late last month, European powers have been scrambling to bolster Ukraine against what they see as a punitive pro-Russian peace that could open up Russia to US investment in oil, gas and rare earths alongside a return of Moscow to the G8.
The Ukrainian president landed in Dublin last night accompanied by the first lady.
He is expected to discuss ways in which Ireland can ensure that Ukraine comes to the negotiating table in as strong a position as possible with Taoiseach Micheál Martin.
Key Russian demands include a pledge that Ukraine would never join NATO, caps on the Ukrainian army, Russian control of the whole of Donbas, recognition of Russian control of Crimea, Donbas, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, and protection for Russian speakers and Russian Orthodox believers in Ukraine.
Ukraine says those would amount to capitulation and leave it prone to eventual conquest by Russia.
But the United States has also floated a 10-year security guarantee for Kyiv.
Mr Witkoff, Mr Kushner and Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Rustem Umerov, the secretary of Ukraine's national security council, for talks on Sunday at Mr Witkoff's Shell Bay club near Miami.
Mr Umerov said "significant progress" had been achieved in the Florida talks, even though more work was needed on "challenging" issues.
"We share the view that the war must be brought to a fair end," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X after talks in Paris.
The situation for Ukraine has been further complicated by a corruption scandal that has rocked Mr Zelensky's inner circle and forced the dismissal last week of his top negotiator and chief of staff, Andriy Yermak.
"We are expecting a conversation with the president of the United States on key issues that are quite challenging," Mr Zelensky said in Paris.
He said Russia had stepped up missile and drone strikes on his country to "break" the will of Ukrainians.
"This is serious pressure, not only psychological but also physical pressure on our population," he said.
Mr Putin sent thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022.
The conflict in eastern Ukraine began in 2014 after a pro-Russian president was toppled in Ukraine's Maidan Revolution and Russia annexed Crimea, with Russian-backed separatist forces fighting Ukraine's armed forces.
