Verhandlungen: Ukraine-Krieg: Putin beginnt Gespräche mit US-Unterhändlern

In Moscow, new talks on the Ukraine war between Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin and US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner began unexpectedly late in the evening. The Russian leader received the two US envoys at the Kremlin, according to state media reports. Putin stated that the discussions were not merely talks but conveyed to Trump his best wishes.

The Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskow confirmed the resumption of negotiations, which Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky had initially announced. The US negotiators arrived with new proposals, though Peskow did not provide details. Following the talks, the Kremlin aims to inform the public. A three-day ceasefire in Ukraine's capital, Kiev, has been ordered by Putin to allow Witkoff and Kushner to visit for the first time.

The Russian leader kept the envoys waiting all day, as they had been on multiple prior visits to Russia for negotiations. He inaugurated a new metro line in Moscow and a massive new oil terminal with pipeline in Siberia via video link. He also met the top candidates of the Kremlin party United Russia ahead of the September 18-20 parliamentary election.

Zelensky, however, confirmed that he expects the two Trump envoys in Kiev on Sunday. The Ukrainian president reiterated his earlier claim that the three-day ceasefire, according to Kiev, had already been in effect. He hoped that Putin would also adhere to his own announcement of the ceasefire. Previous talks between Putin and the US negotiators led to direct discussions between Russians and Ukrainians, but they stalled and were eventually halted as Witkoff and Kushner had been primarily focused on Trump's war against Iran in recent months.

Kremlin experts speculated that since Russia supports Iran in the conflict, Witkoff and Kushner might also address the Iran issue.