Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner spent more than three hours with Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday, delivering a US proposal to end the war in Ukraine. The Kremlin called the meeting useful but disclosed no details, and both sides gave no sign of a breakthrough as the envoys head to Kyiv next.
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin for more than three hours on Saturday, carrying what Donald Trump had called a proposal to end the war in Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine both paused air strikes to allow the visit, but neither side signaled the talks had produced a breakthrough.
Kremlin calls talks useful, discloses no details
Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters the talks had been, according to the Financial Times: "timely and useful". He said Putin told the envoys the Russian army was advancing successfully in the combat zone and expressed confidence Russia's goals would be achieved. The envoys, in turn, promised to relay that assessment in their upcoming talks in Kyiv.
Separately, Ushakov said Witkoff and Kushner had outlined a number of ideas regarding possible avenues for a settlement, though he did not disclose what they were. Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said Putin had ordered the Russian military not to strike Kyiv for three days because of the envoys' trip.
Trip follows two rounds without progress
This marks the pair's third known visit to Moscow, after two earlier trips — the most recent in January — produced no substantive progress. Putin has repeatedly said Moscow remains committed to a peaceful resolution but has rejected proposals for a temporary ceasefire, arguing it would give Ukraine time to re-arm.
A source close to the Kremlin, however, told Reuters there is no chance of an agreement on the front line until Putin finishes securing the remaining part of the Donetsk region, which he expects by the end of the year. Western military analysts see that outcome as remote, given Moscow's slow rate of progress.
Envoys head to Kyiv next
After Moscow, Witkoff and Kushner plan to travel to Ukraine on Sunday — their first known visit to the country since the 2022 invasion — to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy said Russian forces bombed Kyiv's two main airports overnight in an apparent bid to stop the delegation landing directly in the capital.
Senior Ukrainian officials do not expect a breakthrough from the Kyiv leg either, and instead expect Russia to escalate its campaign against the capital in the coming months.
Sources: Financial Times, Reuters
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