Trump's peace envoys to visit Moscow and Kyiv over weekend, reports say
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have led President Donald Trump's efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war - but talks have stalled.
Trump’s peace envoys are set to travel to Moscow and Kyiv over the weekend, reports say
US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are due to visit Russia and Ukraine this weekend, reports say, as efforts to end the war seem to be picking up speed.
According to Axios, citing US officials, the envoys will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday in Moscow, then hold talks with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday in Kyiv.
Witkoff and Kushner have been leading US President Donald Trump’s push to secure a peace agreement, though a wide gap still separates the two sides in the conflict.
Earlier on Friday, Zelensky said a Russian drone struck the office of Ukraine’s security chief Oleksandr Poklad in Kyiv. Poklad appears to have been unharmed.
In a social media post, Zelensky said he had instructed Poklad, who heads the SBU security service, to respond “adequately” to the attack.
Witkoff and Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, have travelled to Russia several times, but the reported talks would be their first in Ukraine.
On Thursday, Zelensky said “tentative dates have been set” and that the US envoys would be in Kyiv “in the coming days”.
However, Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksiy Honcharenko said the pair were expected in the Ukrainian capital on Sunday. He added that this would follow their trip to Moscow on Saturday.
Russia’s state news agency Tass said Witkoff and Kushner were “expected to arrive in Moscow and then to Kyiv... on 5-6 September”, citing a source.
Later, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “I wouldn’t announce anything, but when these contacts take place, we will inform you.”
Meanwhile, Putin told an international economic forum on Thursday that “there are chances” a peace deal could be reached.
“First of all, Moscow and Kyiv must agree between themselves,” he said.
But he gave no indication of softening his maximalist demands, which include further territorial concessions from Ukraine.
Kyiv and its European allies have repeatedly rejected Putin’s terms, saying they amount to capitulation.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and currently controls about 20% of its territory.