US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are travelling to Kyiv for talks with Ukrainian leaders after holding a more than three-hour meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
The meeting was part of President Donald Trump’s renewed efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the Russia-Ukraine war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Trump has previously said he wanted to bring the conflict to an end quickly.
Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov described the Moscow meeting as “substantive, constructive, extremely frank and trusting”. He said Putin had reaffirmed Russia’s willingness to continue working with the United States to explore political and diplomatic solutions.
The discussions also covered economic issues and possible future Russian-US projects, according to Ushakov. However, there was no immediate indication that Moscow had changed its position on the war.
Putin reportedly told the US envoys that the situation was not simple and asked them to convey his best wishes to Trump. The Kremlin also continued to emphasise what it described as Russia’s military successes on the battlefield.
According to people familiar with the Kremlin’s position, Russia remains committed to achieving its objectives in Ukraine and is not currently showing signs of backing away from its demands. Previous visits by Witkoff to Moscow have also failed to produce a major breakthrough.
The upcoming visit to Kyiv is therefore being closely watched. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had spoken with the US envoys and that Kyiv wanted their visit to be as constructive as possible.
Zelenskyy also announced that Ukraine was prepared to temporarily halt airstrikes against Moscow and other locations involved in the negotiations through Monday, while expecting Russia to take similar steps regarding Kyiv.
Putin had earlier ordered a temporary pause in Russian airstrikes on Kyiv as the diplomatic efforts continued. Despite this, air-raid sirens were reported in Kyiv, while an attack in western Ukraine left four people injured.
Trump said on Friday that his envoys were carrying a proposal aimed at ending the war, although he did not provide details.
Experts said the visit could provide fresh momentum to stalled peace efforts, particularly as fighting has intensified. At the same time, European officials have expressed concern over the sequence of the talks, arguing that Washington should coordinate closely with its European allies.
The key challenge remains whether Russia and Ukraine can agree on terms that both sides are willing to accept, with Moscow continuing to maintain its core war objectives.
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