Trump envoy to meet Ukrainian delegation in New York this week

The U.S. president's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said on Tuesday that he would meet with Ukrainian representatives in New York later this week, as diplomatic efforts continue to end the Ukraine conflict.

"I'm meeting with the Ukrainians this week. So I will be meeting with them this week in New York," Witkoff said in an interview with Fox News.

Witkoff said that U.S. and Russian officials remain in regular contact.

"We are hopeful that by the end of this year, we actually, and maybe quite a bit sooner, we actually, can find the ingredients to get to that peace deal," said the envoy.

According to Witkoff, Ukraine is considering Russia's peace proposal, while Moscow has expressed a desire to resolve the conflict.

He noted that the Ukraine conflict is more complicated than territorial disputes alone, and that final decisions will be made in the Ukrainian capital Kiev, not in Washington.

Speaking during his nightly address on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Presidential Office Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov will head to New York on Friday to meet with representatives of U.S. President Donald Trump.

The Ukrainian government delegation has been touring the Middle East and Europe, visiting Qatar on Tuesday and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday before heading to Switzerland on Thursday.

China on Friday sent a sea-launched rocket from the waters near the eastern province of Shandong, placing a group of satellites into planned orbit.

The commercial rocket, CERES-1 Y7, blasted off at 04:10 (Beijing Time), carrying the satellites belonging to the Tianqi constellation. The Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center conducted this offshore mission.