Putin holds "constructive" talks with US envoys on Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s talks with US President Donald Trump’s envoys were “constructive,” “extremely candid” and useful to both sides, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov has said.

Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Putin in Moscow on Saturday for talks focused on settling the Ukraine conflict. The meeting lasted over three hours and included both formal discussions and an informal exchange over lunch, according to Ushakov.

“The conversation was substantive, constructive, extremely candid and trusting,” the presidential aide told reporters following the meeting.

The Russian side provided a detailed assessment of the battlefield situation, expressing confidence that Moscow would achieve its objectives and reiterating that any lasting settlement must address what it considers the root causes of the conflict, Ushakov said. Putin also confirmed Moscow’s readiness to continue working with Washington to seek a political and diplomatic settlement, he added.

According to Ushakov, Witkoff and Kushner had “seriously prepared” for the visit. In addition to expressing Washington’s desire to end the hostilities as soon as possible, they presented “a number of considerations regarding possible paths toward a settlement,” he said.

The US envoys are expected to travel to Kiev on Sunday. Ushakov said they had promised to use the assessments and observations they received directly from Putin in their talks with the Ukrainian side.

Putin earlier thanked Trump for his efforts to help resolve the conflict, saying the US president continued seeking a settlement despite the difficulty of the situation. The Russian president also reiterated Moscow’s commitment to refrain from strikes on Kiev during a three-day period beginning at midnight on September 5, intended to allow the US envoys to travel safely to the Ukrainian capital.

In his opening remarks before the closed-door talks, Putin noted that Ukraine had also sharply reduced attacks on Russian territory, including Moscow, but stressed that Moscow and Kiev had not agreed on a broader three-day truce proposed by the Ukrainian side.

The talks also covered issues beyond Ukraine. Ushakov said the two sides discussed economic cooperation and potential “major, mutually beneficial Russian-American projects” in detail.

Putin additionally drew the US envoys’ attention to Ukraine’s plans to rebury the remains of Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) figures Andrey Melnik and Evgeny Konovalets, whom Ushakov described as among the “most notorious Nazi criminals.” The Americans “took note” of the issue, according to the Kremlin aide.