Amid escalating conflict, US envoy Steve Witkoff is traveling to Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin for talks on a potential peace plan to end the war. The visit follows Russia’s claim that it has captured the key Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, Moscow’s most significant battlefield advance in nearly two years.

According to a Bloomberg report, Putin announced late Monday that Russian troops had seized Pokrovsk, located in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, through the statement delivered via a Kremlin-released video. Ukraine has so far not publicly commented on the claim, Bloomberg noted.

Pokrovsk has served as a major defensive hub and has been the site of fierce battles for more than a year.

Its loss could give Russia a strategic route to advance toward the larger cities of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk, a symbolic breakthrough as Putin continues insisting Ukraine must surrender the entire Donetsk region under any settlement.

Witkoff’s trip comes just days after US and Ukrainian officials held negotiations in Florida. He is expected to present updated proposals for ending Russia’s full-scale invasion. However, European governments fear that Washington’s push for a diplomatic breakthrough could pressure Kyiv into accepting terms that embolden further Russian aggression.

Speaking in Paris on Monday alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the latest iteration of the peace plan “looks better,” but signaled continued caution.

Putin has indicated a willingness to engage in talks, saying last week that proposals backed by former US President Donald Trump could serve as “the basis for future agreements.” Yet he has given no indication that Russia would scale back its demands, including territorial concessions Ukraine has repeatedly rejected.

Witkoff, who is meeting Putin for the sixth time this year, previously promoted a 28-point draft plan unveiled last month. That proposal alarmed Ukrainian and European officials by outlining concessions aligned with Moscow’s long-standing objectives.

Bloomberg reported that an Oct. 14 phone call between Witkoff and Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov suggested the two sides could work jointly on a plan modeled on Trump’s Gaza strategy.

Trump, who has been advocating for a swift cease-fire, has called on both sides to halt fighting along current front lines as part of the peace initiative.