Witkoff and Kushner meet with Putin about ending Ukraine war

President Trump's aides, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, convened with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Saturday to explore potential solutions for ending the conflict in Ukraine. The significance of this meeting lies in their aspiration to reinitiate direct dialogue between Russia and Ukraine, which lapsed six months ago amid a surge in hostilities as winter approaches.

Witkoff and Kushner, who are slated to journey to Kyiv on Sunday, managed to secure a temporary ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, enabling their visit. Putin expressed to Witkoff and Kushner during the roughly three-hour discussion that he placed complete confidence in U.S. mediation efforts between the two nations. Witkoff acknowledged Putin's release of former U.S. Marine Robert Gilman and commended Putin's decision to halt airstrikes against Ukraine while the U.S. negotiators were in Kyiv.

Putin assured the envoys that they would do their best to ensure the safety of the negotiations. However, in recent days, Russia has ramped up its drone and missile assaults on Ukraine, including on Kyiv and other key urban centers. The forthcoming trip to Kyiv by Trump's representatives will mark the highest-level visit by an American official to Ukraine since Donald Trump began his second term.

If the U.S. government aircraft carrying Witkoff and Kushner lands in Ukraine on Sunday, it will be the first international flight to touch down in the nation since the war commenced in February 2022.