US envoys meet with Putin, leave Russia for Kyiv
Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow to try to revive the Ukraine peace talks. They are also scheduled to visit Kyiv on Sunday.
U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday evening in Moscow, according to Russian state media. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov stated that the talks were "useful" and aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. After the meeting, the envoys left Moscow and were seen traveling to Ukraine.
Earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump had mentioned that Kushner and Witkoff were bringing a new proposal for peace, though he did not provide specifics. The Kremlin later announced a three-day ceasefire in Kyiv, starting at midnight, as part of the peace negotiations. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had already agreed to a ceasefire during the talks.
Zelenskyy confirmed that the U.S. envoys would visit Ukraine the following day, following their talks in Moscow. However, this was not the first time the pair had visited Moscow for peace discussions; they had been in Moscow previously as well. Zelenskyy expressed readiness to observe a ceasefire in cities involved in the negotiation process after speaking with Kushner and Witkoff on Saturday.
Trump's promise to end the five-year war in Ukraine has been a recurring theme of his presidency, but recent statements suggest the task may be more challenging than initially anticipated. Trump has previously blamed Ukraine for the Russian invasion and attributed the ongoing conflict to a "personality problem" between the leaders of the two nations.
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