US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have arrived in Moscow carrying what Donald Trump described as a proposal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, in a fresh attempt to revive stalled diplomacy.
The pair landed in the Russian capital on Saturday and were met at the airport by Kirill Dmitriev, Moscow’s envoy for investment and economic co-operation, according to Russian state media.
Mr Trump said on Friday that the envoys had been sent to assess whether a settlement could be reached. “We have an idea for peace,” he told reporters at the White House.
“I sent Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, two great negotiators. They’ve done a great job, and we sent them over to see whether or not we can get something done. And there may be a good chance that we’ll do it,” the US president said.
After their meetings in Moscow, the envoys are expected to travel to Kyiv on Sunday, September 6, for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It will be their first visit to Ukraine since Mr Trump returned to office and their first known trip to Kyiv in their current mediation effort.
Mr Zelenskyy said Ukraine was preparing for the delegation and had agreed not to carry out air strikes against Russia while the Americans were travelling and conducting their meetings. He called on Moscow to adopt the same approach.
“Our goal is to make the visit and the talks with the US side as constructive and substantive as possible,” Mr Zelenskyy said. “We need to look for real options for how to move this war towards an end.”
The diplomatic push comes as Russia and Ukraine continue to exchange missile and drone attacks. On Friday, a Russian drone struck the headquarters of Ukraine’s Security Service, known as the SBU, in central Kyiv. Ukrainian officials said 12 people were wounded.
Mr Zelenskyy said the drone had been deliberately aimed at the building, which houses an agency involved in operations against Russian targets. Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, described the strike as a major escalation during renewed efforts to find a political solution.
The latest initiative follows months of limited progress in US-mediated negotiations. Washington’s focus shifted towards the war with Iran, which began in February and has lasted for more than six months, while talks on Ukraine were placed on hold in mid-February.
Witkoff and Kushner last met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in January. The discussions were described by a Russian official as constructive, but they produced no breakthrough, with the dispute over territory remaining one of the central obstacles to a long-term settlement.
The Kremlin did not publicly confirm the envoys’ schedule before their arrival. Russia’s state news agency TASS had reported that Moscow would be their first destination, followed by Kyiv, as the Trump administration seeks to restart negotiations over a war now in its fifth year.
