U.S. Envoys Meet Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Pressing Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks
Adedokun Waliyu
3 min read
U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday in a visit aimed at reviving peace talks with Ukraine after nearly eight months of deadlock.
The talks lasted more than three hours and ended close to midnight local time. Putin’s foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, described them as “substantive, constructive and extremely candid,” although he provided little indication of whether the meeting had produced progress toward peace.
Ushakov said Witkoff and Kushner “formulated a number of considerations on possible paths to a settlement” and would draw on the observations they received from Putin during their subsequent visit to Kyiv.
Putin greeted the U.S. envoys at the Kremlin, highlighting the difficulty of persuading Russia to move toward a ceasefire after repeatedly showing little willingness to abandon its maximalist goals in Ukraine.
“The situation we have to deal with today is certainly complex,” Putin said. “Before we begin, I would like to ask you to convey my very best wishes and words of gratitude to the President of the United States, Donald Trump.”
“While recognizing that he is stepping into a difficult situation overall, he is nonetheless persisting in his efforts to help resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict,” Putin added.
War Now in Its Fifth Year
The meeting comes as negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, now in its fifth year, have stalled amid the U.S. war with Iran.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe made a rare trip to Moscow last month, where he warned Russian intelligence officials that escalating the war would backfire. He urged a return to talks, arguing that Russia’s position was weak and would deteriorate further, according to people familiar with his discussions.
On Friday, President Donald Trump said he had decided to send Witkoff and Kushner “to see whether or not we can get something done.”
“There’s a personality problem in Russia-Ukraine. You have President [Volodymyr] Zelensky and President Putin,” Trump said. “They truly hate each other. Do you know what hate is? They have serious hate and it’s getting in the way of them.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had agreed to halt strikes on Kyiv starting at midnight Saturday in connection with the negotiations.
On their arrival in Russia, Russian representative Kirill Dmitriev welcomed the U.S. envoys, describing them as “Moscow Peacemakers” in a post on X.
Putin this week vowed to continue hitting Ukraine. Following a China-led regional security summit on Wednesday, he described recent Ukrainian threats to close Russian airspace to airline carriers as “a call for state terrorism.”
He added that “one does not negotiate with terrorists,” while saying that Trump’s negotiators are “always welcome guests in Russia.”
The last known visit by Witkoff and Kushner to Russia was in January. Since then, the talks have remained essentially frozen, with the Trump administration also distracted by the war with Iran.
Both Sides Escalating Strikes
The war has shifted in the months since their last trip, with both sides escalating aerial strikes deep into each other’s territory.
In recent weeks, Russia has intensified its drone campaign against Ukraine, using jet-powered Geran drones that are harder to intercept than earlier versions. The hours-long waves of attacks have forced Kyiv into previously uncommon daytime air-raid alerts and contributed to food shortages after supermarkets and food warehouses were hit.
Russia has also taken advantage of Ukraine’s shortage of interceptors for U.S.-designed Patriot air defence systems, which Ukraine says are the only weapons effective enough to intercept Russian ballistic missiles. The Patriot systems have been in short supply because of the Trump administration’s ongoing war with Iran.
Last week, Zelensky warned that “the safe days in Russia’s skies are over” and advised airlines to avoid Russian airspace as Ukraine escalates its drone strikes.
Ukraine has made progress in developing its long-range drone campaign and has been targeting Russian oil refineries and logistics infrastructure.
Zelensky said that after visiting Russia, Witkoff and Kushner are expected to travel to Kyiv on Sunday, while Ukraine would refrain from carrying out airstrikes as talks continue. It would mark the first visit to the Ukrainian capital by Trump’s envoys.
“Our goal is to make the visit and the talks with the U.S. side as constructive and substantive as possible,” Zelensky said. “We need to look for real options for how to move this war toward an end.”
