KYIV — After a day of crucial meetings in Moscow, including with President Vladimir Putin, US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are switching wartime venues, heading to Kyiv for talks with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy with aims of ending the conflict now in its fifth year.
Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported that talks between the envoys and Putin lasted about three hours, with the US representatives leaving the Kremlin at about 11 p.m. on September 5. Shortly after midnight, TASS reported the Americans had departed Moscow.
Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov, who participated in the session, called the talks “substantive, very frank, and constructive.” He added that the envoys stated the US position and promised to present Putin’s views to Ukrainian leaders during their talks in Kyiv.
“They not only expressed their traditional interest in bringing the hostilities to a quick end, they put forward a number of ideas on possible routes to a settlement,” he said.
Ushakov insisted Russia would achieve its goals and that the “root causes” of the conflict must be resolved, Kremlin code for putting an end to Ukraine’s hopes of NATO membership and steps to effectively disarm the Ukrainian military, among other historical grievances — items Kyiv has long rejected.
Aftermath of Russian drone strike in the Ukrainian city of Chuguiv near Kharkiv on September 5.
There was no official US comment immediately after the meeting.
As the session started near 8 p.m., RIA Novosti quoted Putin as saying the three men would have to address a “difficult situation” during their Kremlin discussions.
The meeting appeared to get a late start after Putin spent the day opening a new subway line in Moscow, inaugurating a Siberian oil terminal by video link, and meeting with members of the ruling United Russia party.
US President Donald Trump had said the envoys would be presenting a peace deal to the Russians and then would relay the offer to Ukraine the next day.
Trump said Washington had “an idea for peace” and that his envoys were “bringing with them a proposal to end the war,” now in its fifth year since Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“I sent them over to see whether or not we can get something done, and there may be a good chance that we’ll do it,” Trump told reporters on September 4.
‘Diplomatic Activities
Zelenskyy said he had spoken to the envoys on September 5, revealing few details about the call but saying that “the plan of diplomatic activities for tomorrow in Kyiv with the participation of the American team has been approved.”
“We are waiting for Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and are ready for a meaningful conversation,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram.
The US envoys’ visit to Kyiv would mark their first visit to Ukraine since taking leading roles in the administration’s efforts to end the war and come amid a renewed diplomatic push aimed at reaching a peace agreement.
Trump made ending the largest war in Europe since 1945 a priority when he took office in January 2025, but an agreement has been elusive, and diplomacy had been largely stalled since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran in late February.
Reflecting the hard-line stance put forward by Ushakov, Putin has shown no sign of compromise in recent comments, among other things insisting that Russia must control all of eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region, including the parts its forces have failed to capture in years of heavy fighting.
US special representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner first visited Moscow on September 5 before heading to Kyiv.
Before the envoys departed the US, Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces would “ensure the normal functioning of Russia airspace so that the negotiators can arrive there safely” and demanded that Moscow reciprocate.
Following his September 5 call with the envoys, Zelenskyy said that “from now through the end of Saturday, as well as on Sunday and Monday, Ukraine is ready to refrain from strikes on Moscow.”
Putin subsequently ordered a halt to strikes on Kyiv from September 6-8, according to spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who made no mention of other parts of Ukraine amid reports that Russia had continued its attacks elsewhere.
Airport Attacks
Zelenskyy said Russian forces had targeted Kyiv’s Zhulyany and Boryspil airports overnight on September 4-5, accusing Moscow of seeking to create uncertainty over the US envoys’ planned journey to Ukraine.
The Kyiv visit will come just days after a Russian drone strike hit the headquarters of Ukraine’s domestic security service — known as the SBU and a key agency that would be responsible for the US envoys’ safety during a visit.
“Clearly, these Russian strikes on the airports are a reaction to the discussions and preparations for the possibility of the US side using an aircraft to travel to Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said on X , adding there would be “no threats to diplomacy” from the Ukrainian side.
Flying into Kyiv would be highly unusual. Ukrainian airspace has been closed to regular civilian flights since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, and visiting foreign leaders and officials have generally reached the capital by train.
