U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow on Thursday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, launching a fresh attempt to secure a peace deal in the ongoing war in Ukraine.
The meetings in the Kremlin, scheduled for around midday, follow two days of trilateral discussions in Abu Dhabi that concluded on Wednesday.
While the Abu Dhabi sessions resulted in an agreement for a new, major prisoner exchange, participants reported no significant breakthrough in the broader conflict. This week’s proceedings represented the first U.S.-mediated direct negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian representatives in nine months. Although negotiators from both sides indicated some progress was made during the sessions, the U.S. side maintained that critical gaps remain, particularly regarding territorial disputes.
Kyiv has consistently rejected Russian demands to cede the entirety of the eastern Donbas region as a condition for ending hostilities. With territorial negotiations currently deadlocked, U.S. mediators have shifted focus toward potential postwar security guarantees and reconstruction efforts.
A senior Russian diplomat stated on Wednesday that Moscow remains open to concluding non-aggression pacts with NATO member states as part of a revised European security architecture. Many European officials, however, have countered that any discussions regarding broader continental security are premature until tangible progress is achieved in Ukraine, specifically in the form of an established ceasefire.
The Moscow visit marks the 10th in-person meeting between Witkoff and Putin. Upon their arrival at the airport, Kushner and Witkoff were met by Kirill Dmitriev, a special envoy for Putin, before being escorted to central Moscow to prepare for the high-level talks. Despite public expressions of optimism from U.S. Regarding President Donald Trump's peace process, neither the Russian nor Ukrainian delegations have offered major compromises.
