US envoys Kushner and Witkoff travel on to Ukraine after Moscow talks

US special envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff traveled to Ukraine after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. They want to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv today. It is the negotiating duo's first trip to the country attacked by Russia.

During the several-hour-long talks in the Kremlin, "substantial plans for next steps" in efforts to end the war against Ukraine were discussed, as the Reuters news agency quoted a US government representative as saying. The White House said these would be announced in the coming weeks.

Putin's foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov called the talks constructive, content-rich and trusting. Putin gave his assessment of the situation, said Ushakov. In particular, the “actual successes of the Russian army in advancing in the operational area” were highlighted. However, according to experts, Russia has hardly made any territorial gains for months.

US envoys have “thoroughly prepared”

Above all, it is important for Russia to eliminate the root causes of the conflict, said Ushakov. Russia will achieve its goals, Putin told the US negotiating duo. On Friday, the Kremlin said again that Ukraine should cede all territory in the four Russian-claimed regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson and abandon its plans to join NATO.

US President Donald Trump said before the meeting that Kushner and Witkoff would make new proposals to Putin to end the war. Ushakov said: "The American representatives had thoroughly prepared for this trip. They not only expressed their interest in a quick end to the fighting, but also presented several ideas for possible paths to a solution." Putin is counting on Kushner and Witkoff to convey the Russian perspective to Ukrainian President Zelensky during their visit to Kyiv, the Kremlin adviser said.

Progress in negotiations questionable

It seems questionable whether the meeting actually brought about any movement in efforts to end the war. "As expected, Witkoff and Kushner's visit led to nothing - except for a formal resumption of the negotiation process, which had been paused since the spring - with the beginning of American aggression against Iran," said Moscow American expert Dmitry Novikov.

For the visit of Kushner and Witkoff, Putin and Zelensky had agreed on a local, three-day ceasefire to ensure the safety of US negotiators. Moscow has pledged to refrain from air strikes against the city of Kyiv for the safety of US envoys. After the visit to Moscow, the US envoys were looking forward to "equally productive meetings tomorrow in Ukraine," a White House representative told the AFP news agency.