US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Moscow on September 5, 2026, to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in a bid to revive peace talks aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine war [1, 2, 3]. Their closed-door meeting at the Kremlin lasted about three hours and covered multiple issues, including conflict resolution and broader economic cooperation, according to Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov [2, 4, 5]. "We put forward a number of ideas on possible routes to a settlement," Ushakov said, but no concrete breakthrough was announced [5].
Before the talks, Putin described the situation in Ukraine as "difficult" but praised former US President Donald Trump’s efforts to help end the war, saying Trump “does not stop his efforts to help bring about a settlement” [6, 5]. Trump commented separately that the envoys carried a proposal to end the war, though he noted the issue was also a personality clash between Zelensky and Putin who “truly hate each other” [1, 7].
Putin ordered a three-day ceasefire on strikes against Kyiv starting at midnight on September 5 to facilitate the talks. Ukraine reciprocated by agreeing to refrain from strikes on Moscow during the same period [3, 6, 5]. Russia’s Defense Ministry reported fewer Ukrainian drone incursions on that day compared to usual, suggesting at least a temporary drop in hostilities [6].
The US envoys have made several trips to Moscow before but this was their first visit to Kyiv. They planned to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on September 6 to continue discussions about peace prospects and the ceasefire [1, 2, 3, 5]. They also met Zelensky briefly before their arrival in Kyiv to discuss the planned talks [1, 5].
The Kremlin reiterated Moscow’s conditions for peace include Ukraine ceding four Russian-claimed regions and remaining outside NATO — demands Ukraine rejects [3, 6]. Despite the lack of a formal agreement, officials described the Moscow talks as "frank" and "constructive," with the envoys bringing some form of proposal though details were not disclosed [2, 3, 5]. Witkoff and Kushner’s visit marked a new attempt by the US to mediate after months of stalled negotiations.
Witkoff and Kushner’s scheduled meetings with Zelensky in Kyiv on September 6 mark the next step in efforts to negotiate a ceasefire and a possible peace framework for the conflict.
