US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are expected to travel to Kyiv on Sunday after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow for talks on ending the war in Ukraine.
The White House said the pair discussed substantive plans for next steps during Saturday’s meeting and hoped to hold equally productive discussions in Ukraine. An announcement connected to the diplomatic effort is expected in the coming weeks, though the details of the plans have not been made public.
The visit would be the first trip to Ukraine’s capital by the top negotiators for US President Donald Trump. It was not clear how Witkoff and Kushner would travel from Moscow because Ukrainian airspace has been closed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Russian state media said the Moscow meeting lasted about three hours and was held behind closed doors at Putin’s official residence in central Moscow. Putin adviser Yuri Ushakov described the discussion as constructive and extremely frank.
According to Ushakov, the talks covered not only possible ways to resolve the war but also economic issues and potential Russian-American projects. He said the discussions noted what he described as Russian military advances and the need to address what Moscow considers the conflict’s root causes.
As the Kremlin meeting took place, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was prepared for a substantive conversation. Putin and Zelensky have agreed to pause strikes on each other’s capitals for three days.
The diplomatic contacts come amid intensified aerial attacks by both sides in recent months. Ukraine has said it faces difficulty countering ballistic missile attacks because of a shortage of interceptor missiles, while Kyiv has concentrated some strikes on Russian economic infrastructure, including oil facilities.
Russia controls about one-fifth of Ukrainian territory, including areas it seized in 2022, according to the report. While Russian ground forces have made slow progress for much of the conflict, the source said those advances have come with heavy casualties.
Source: BBC News
