US Envoys Head To Ukraine After Putin Talks

Two US envoys are set to travel to Ukraine after holding talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on efforts to end the war, US officials have said.

According to the BBC, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are expected to arrive in Kyiv on Sunday after holding three-hour talks with Putin on Saturday. The White House said the two men had “discussed substantive plans for next steps” with the Russian president and were hoping for “equally productive meetings” in Ukraine.

The details of the plans remain unclear, although an announcement is expected in the coming weeks as diplomatic efforts to end the war intensify.

The visit would mark the first trip to Kyiv by US President Donald Trump’s top negotiators. Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have also agreed to halt strikes on each other’s capitals for three days.

As Witkoff and Kushner held talks at the Kremlin, Zelensky said he was ready for “a substantive conversation”.

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The meeting took place behind closed doors at Putin’s official residence in central Moscow, with Russian state media reporting that it lasted three hours.

While details of the discussions have yet to emerge, both sides have described the talks positively.

Putin’s adviser, Yuri Ushakov, called the meeting “constructive, extremely frank”.

“The talks were not limited to an exchange of views on resolving the Ukrainian crisis – economic issues and potential major, mutually beneficial Russian-American projects were discussed in considerable detail,” he said.

Ushakov added that “note was made of the Russian army’s tangible advances in the combat zone” and that there was acknowledgement that talks needed to address “the root causes of the conflict”.

Russia has intensified missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, but its ground forces have made slow progress across much of the conflict, suffering heavy casualties. Moscow still controls about one-fifth of Ukrainian territory, much of it seized in 2022.

Kushner and Witkoff have travelled to Russia several times, but it remains unclear how they will reach Kyiv from Moscow because Ukraine’s airspace has been closed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The diplomatic efforts come amid an escalation in aerial attacks by both Russia and Ukraine in recent months.

Ukraine has said it is struggling to intercept Russian ballistic missiles because of shortages of interceptor missiles, while Kyiv has increasingly targeted Russian economic infrastructure, particularly oil facilities.