Trump envoys plan to visit Moscow and Kiev to push a diplomatic solution to the war

A US official told CNN on Friday that US President Donald Trump's special envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, plan to visit Moscow and Kiev in the coming days to push for a diplomatic solution to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

The visit to the Ukrainian capital will be the first trip for the envoys to this country, which has been witnessing war for years and has been subjected to a constant barrage of Russian attacks in recent weeks. Note that they had previously visited Moscow in the past.

On Friday, the official Russian news agency TASS quoted unnamed sources as saying that the visits will take place on September 5 and 6.

There were indications that the visit would take place soon; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated, during his Thursday evening speech, that the American team will be in Ukraine “in the coming days.”

He said: “We have received confirmation from them: meetings will be held in Moscow and Kiev. We expect these meetings to take place in the coming days. This is critical; it is important for the United States to remain actively engaged.”

Zelensky previously stated that he spoke with Witkov and Kushner on Monday, and that they were "setting the final dates for their visit to Ukraine."

Although Zelensky praised the upcoming meeting and described it as an important development, reaching a diplomatic solution that would quickly end the war remains unlikely.

Russian President Vladimir Putin made it clear that he was not ready to give up any of the maximum demands he put forward on Ukraine. He called on Kiev to give up large areas of its territory, abandon its ambition to join NATO, and significantly reduce the size of its army, conditions that Kiev rejected.

Moscow has also intensified its attacks on Ukrainian cities in recent days, terrorizing millions of civilians with waves of jet-powered drones that are nearly impossible for Ukraine to intercept.

Kiev has been subjected to almost continuous air attacks for eight days, with strikes affecting several buildings in the city center, in addition to warehouses and factories - including a Coca-Cola production plant - in the suburbs.

At least 53 people have been killed and 134 others injured in the city of Kiev and the wider Kiev region since these ongoing attacks began on 27 August.

Meanwhile, Ukraine has intensified its long-range attacks against targets deep within Russian territory, targeting oil storage and refining facilities, as well as commercial warehouses.

Zelensky warned earlier this week that Russian airspace would be “effectively closed” due to the presence of Ukrainian drones; However, he made it clear that Ukraine would guarantee the safety of the skies if foreign diplomats traveled to Moscow.