US envoys Witkoff and Kushner meet Putin in Moscow for Ukraine negotiations

Dmitriev, who attended the meeting, posted this statement on the X platform along with photos showing him saying goodbye to Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner at a Moscow airport.

According to Russian state media, Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks in Moscow for around three hours with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner about ending the Ukraine conflict that has been going on for four years.

US President Donald Trump announced on Friday a new diplomatic push to end the war in Ukraine. He called Witkoff and his son-in-law Kushner "two great negotiators" and added: "We sent them there to see if we could achieve something." Witkoff and Kushner had with them a US plan "to end the war." The US President did not say whether the plan includes ceding territory from Ukraine to Russia. He simply said: "We have an idea for peace."

Putin doesn't think ending the war is "easy"

Before the closed-door talks began, Putin thanked Trump for "not stopping" trying to end the war - which Russia started in 2022 - even though it was "not easy," according to televised recordings.

Putin also said that Moscow would guarantee the safety of the US envoys in Kyiv - after the Russian army recently repeatedly shelled the Ukrainian capital. "We will do everything in our power to ensure the security of the negotiation process and mediators like you," Putin said to Witkoff and Kushner.

The two US envoys landed at Moscow's Vnukovo airport at midday. After the meeting with Putin, they are expected in Kyiv on Sunday for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. According to Zelensky, the plan was for them to come to Kyiv by plane - this is highly unusual because Ukrainian airspace has been closed since the start of the war in 2022 and other Western politicians have always traveled to Kyiv by train.

According to the Kremlin, Russian attacks on Kyiv should stop for three days. "The Russian President, the Commander-in-Chief, has given the order not to attack Kyiv for three days from midnight today," the Tass news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying on Saturday.

Zelenskyj announced on online networks on Saturday that Ukraine was prepared to refrain from attacks on Moscow "from now" until Monday. He later said he had spoken with U.S. officials and was expecting them in Kyiv on Sunday.

Influence of the Iran War

Zelensky had already announced on Thursday that Trump wanted to send his negotiators to Moscow and Kyiv for new talks. It would be her first visit to the Ukrainian capital since the beginning of Trump's second term in office.

The two US envoys had already traveled to Moscow several times to talk about ending Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. They had also been involved in ceasefire negotiations in the Gaza Strip and Iran.

According to new authorities, at least ten people died in Russian attacks on Saturday, two in the Bucha district near Kyiv, five in the inland Dnipro region and three members of a family in the Kharkiv region.

Witkoff and Kushner's visit to Moscow comes after the head of the US CIA, John Ratcliffe, traveled to the Russian capital on a secret mission at the end of August.

Against the backdrop of the Iran War, US President Trump's efforts to find a negotiated solution to the Ukraine war have stalled in recent months. Moscow and Kyiv also increased their attacks deep inside their respective neighboring countries.