US envoys are heading to Kyiv for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after spending more than three hours with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, as the Trump administration steps up efforts to find a possible path towards ending the war in Ukraine.
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are expected in the Ukrainian capital on Sunday, where they will brief Zelenskyy on their discussions with Putin. It will be their first wartime visit to Kyiv, adding a new element to Washington’s latest diplomatic push.
The Kremlin and the White House both described Saturday’s meeting in Moscow as productive, although neither side released significant details about the proposals discussed. The White House said the talks included “substantive plans for next steps” and indicated that more information would emerge in the coming weeks.
Putin’s foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said the US delegation had presented several ideas for possible ways forward in negotiations. He did not provide details of the proposals but described the talks as useful and frank.
The discussions also extended beyond the war itself. According to Ushakov, Russian and US officials discussed economic relations and possible joint projects between the two countries.
“The talks went beyond a mere exchange of views on resolving the Ukrainian crisis,” Ushakov said.
Despite the diplomatic activity, there was little public indication that Moscow or Kyiv had moved closer to resolving the central disputes that have blocked previous negotiations.
Putin told the US representatives that Russia remained confident it could achieve its military objectives. Ushakov also said the Russian president repeated Moscow’s position that any settlement must address what the Kremlin describes as the “root causes” of the conflict.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. More than four years later, Russian forces control roughly one-fifth of Ukrainian territory, while the front line stretches for about 1,250 kilometres. Territorial changes have remained limited despite continued fighting.
Moscow has continued to press for Ukrainian territorial concessions. The Kremlin said on Friday that Putin still supported terms he outlined two years ago, including the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from four regions claimed by Russia and an end to Kyiv’s ambitions to join NATO.
Ukraine has rejected those conditions and has repeatedly ruled out surrendering territory that remains under its control.
A person close to the Kremlin told Reuters before the latest US mission that Putin intended to continue military operations until Russian forces captured the remaining Ukrainian-held parts of the Donetsk region. The source said Putin believed that objective could be reached by the end of 2026, although Western military analysts cited by Reuters questioned whether Russian forces were advancing quickly enough to meet that timetable.
The latest diplomatic effort follows President Donald Trump’s announcement on Friday that Washington had prepared a proposal aimed at ending the war. Trump has not publicly disclosed the terms of that proposal.
When Witkoff and Kushner arrived at the Kremlin, Putin thanked Trump for his diplomatic efforts. Speaking briefly before the closed-door meeting, the Russian president acknowledged the difficulty of the situation and asked the two envoys to convey his greetings and thanks to the US president.
Zelenskyy said Saturday that he had already spoken with Witkoff and Kushner and was ready for further discussions when they arrive in Kyiv.
The diplomatic activity is taking place against the backdrop of continued Russian and Ukrainian attacks. Ukrainian officials said Russian strikes on Saturday killed at least seven people. Five were reported killed in an attack on a factory in the Dnipro region, while strikes around Kyiv also caused deaths and damage to buildings in southern and central parts of the country.
Zelenskyy also said Russia had targeted airports in Kyiv and Boryspil ahead of the expected arrival of the US delegation. He described the attacks as a response to the possibility of the American envoys travelling to the Ukrainian capital.
With Ukrainian airspace closed to normal civilian traffic since the full-scale invasion, foreign officials visiting the country have generally travelled by train.
Moscow has agreed to suspend attacks on Kyiv for three days during the US delegation’s visit. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin ordered the pause to protect the American representatives.
Zelenskyy, in turn, said Ukraine would refrain from striking Moscow through Monday.
“Ukraine is ready to refrain from strikes on Moscow, and we expect the Russians to do the same regarding Kyiv,” he wrote on X.
The arrangement is limited to the two capitals and does not amount to a wider ceasefire across Ukraine. Fighting elsewhere is expected to continue.
Long-range attacks have intensified in recent months, with Russia using missiles and drones against Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities while Ukraine has increasingly targeted Russian military facilities, oil refineries, terminals and other infrastructure.
A Russian drone strike on Friday hit the headquarters of Ukraine’s SBU security service in Kyiv. Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries have also disrupted fuel supplies and contributed to rising domestic fuel prices.
For now, the meetings in Moscow and Kyiv represent another attempt to bridge positions that remain far apart. The US delegation’s discussions with Zelenskyy could provide a clearer indication of whether Washington’s latest proposal has enough room for both sides to continue negotiations, or whether the fundamental disagreements over territory and Russia’s war aims remain too deep for a breakthrough.
