Russian President Vladimir Putin has received US President Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner at the Kremlin for renewed talks on the war in Ukraine, with a three-day ceasefire announced to facilitate their planned visit to Kyiv.
The talks were arranged at short notice and began after Witkoff and Kushner arrived in Moscow. Russian state television showed Putin receiving the two US representatives at the Kremlin, while photographs from the meeting were also released.
Putin said he did not expect the discussions to be easy and indicated that he would explain the Ukraine war from the Russian perspective. He also conveyed his best wishes to Trump and praised the US president’s efforts to bring the conflict to an end.
The Russian president said Witkoff and Kushner had gained the trust of the Russian side. “For us, cooperation with them is comfortable,” Putin said. Witkoff, in turn, expressed gratitude to Putin for receiving them and said his meetings with the Russian president ranked among the most memorable meetings of his career.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the renewed negotiations only after Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Kushner had arrived in Moscow. According to Peskov, the US envoys had brought new proposals with them, although he did not disclose their details. The Kremlin said it would inform the public about the outcome of the discussions afterwards.
The Moscow talks are taking place against the backdrop of earlier contacts between Putin and Trump’s representatives that had contributed to direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. Those talks initially stalled and were subsequently halted, as Witkoff and Kushner had been primarily occupied in recent months with Trump’s war against Iran.
Putin has now ordered a three-day ceasefire for the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, intended to allow Witkoff and Kushner to make a visit there for the first time. The two envoys have travelled to Russia several times previously for discussions but have not yet visited Kyiv as part of the process.
Putin said Russia would do everything necessary to ensure their safe journey. The temporary halt in fighting therefore creates an unusual link between the diplomatic activity in Moscow and the planned meeting in the Ukrainian capital.
Zelenskyy has confirmed that he expects the two US envoys in Kyiv on Sunday. The Ukrainian president also reiterated his earlier statement that, from Ukraine’s perspective, the three-day ceasefire was already in force.
At the same time, Zelenskyy said he hoped Putin would abide by his own announcement of the truce, leaving the implementation of the temporary halt dependent on both sides observing the commitment.
The renewed US-Russian discussions come as Washington seeks to revive diplomatic efforts surrounding the Ukraine war. The previous engagement between Trump’s envoys and Putin had helped bring Russian and Ukrainian representatives into direct negotiations, but those contacts subsequently stopped.
The involvement of Witkoff and Kushner in both Moscow and Kyiv now places the two US envoys at the centre of another attempt to restart the process. With new proposals reportedly on the table and a temporary ceasefire announced, their meetings with Putin and Zelenskyy could provide the next indication of whether stalled negotiations can resume.
