U.S. envoys Kushner and Witkov arrive in Moscow to restart Russia-Ukraine war negotiations

According to local media reports on Saturday (September 5), US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have arrived in Moscow to try to restart negotiations aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine war. Russian state news agency TASS said that Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev welcomed the two people at the airport.

Hours earlier, U.S. President Trump said he was sending his son-in-law Kushner and businessman Witkov to Moscow and Kiev with a proposal to end the conflict. Asked about the pair's trip on Friday, Trump also told reporters that they brought a proposal to end the war. Kushner and Witkov have previously served as Trump's special envoys, leading peace efforts in the Middle East and Ukraine.

The U.S. president did not reveal any details of the package, including whether it would involve ceding territory to Russia that he had previously proposed. He just said that the United States has a peaceful concept.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that Kushner and Vitkov would visit Ukraine on Sunday after talks in Moscow.

Recent media reports have raised questions about whether the two will actually travel to Ukraine. Since Trump was re-elected last year, the two U.S. envoys have traveled to Moscow many times to meet with Russian officials, but have never visited Kiev.

Trump had promised to end the Russia-Ukraine war, now in its fifth year, on his first day back in the White House. He recently changed his tune and said the matter was more complicated than expected. He has in the past blamed Russia's invasion of Ukraine and said the war continues because of "character issues" between the two countries' leaders.

Zelensky posted on the social media platform Telegram that Ukraine would cease air strikes during the negotiations and called on Moscow to do the same so that negotiations can proceed safely.

He said that just as the United States had done during several previous diplomatic visits, Ukraine will ensure the normal operation of Russian airspace so that negotiators can arrive safely; Ukraine is concerned about their safety, not Russia.

On Wednesday, Putin described negotiations as being in a "frozen" state.

Meanwhile, a Russian drone hit the headquarters of Ukraine's State Security Service (SBU) in Kiev on Friday.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called the attack a "significant escalation" in the war. He wrote on

Zelensky said he had ordered an appropriate and substantial response and, where possible, reciprocal retaliation.

Ukraine has also repeatedly attacked Russian oil infrastructure and retail giant Wildberries with drones.