Trump envoys Witkoff and Kushner meet Putin in Moscow before Kyiv peace talks

Kremlin negotiations

On Saturday, 5 September 2026, US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Moscow to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin. Russian investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev met the two American representatives at Vnukovo airport before escorting them to a restaurant on Trubnaya street and then directly to the presidential compound. The evening talks took place around a round table in the Kremlin's Red Drawing Room, with foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov attending alongside Putin. Witkoff conveyed greetings from US President Donald Trump and thanked the Russian leader for agreeing to temporary security arrangements during the mission. Putin commended the US administration for continuing diplomatic contacts regarding the four-and-a-half-year conflict.

Speaking during the opening portion of the meeting, the Russian president acknowledged the difficult setting of the talks.

Understanding that he enters a difficult situation, he does not give up, however, efforts to help find a solution and bring his contribution to resolving the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

Air strike moratorium around capitals

To protect the diplomatic mission, both sides implemented a targeted three-day suspension of aerial attacks on their respective capital cities. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Russian military forces received direct instructions to pause strikes directed at Kyiv.

Supreme Commander-in-Chief Putin has given an order not to launch attacks on Kyiv for three days, starting today at midnight.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky agreed to a parallel halt on strikes targeting Moscow through Monday. Security around the visit remained tense after Russian forces struck two airfields outside Kyiv overnight between Friday and Saturday. Zelensky addressed the strikes, linking them directly to American plans to land inside the country despite the closure of Ukrainian airspace to civilian flights since 24 February 2022.

It is clear that these Russian attacks on the airports represent a reaction to the discussions and preparations regarding the possibility of the American delegation traveling to Ukraine by air and landing at Kyiv or Boryspil airports.

Diverging terms and low expectations

The Moscow meeting followed a Friday press conference at the White House where Trump announced that his envoys were carrying a concrete framework to end the war. Sources cited by Bloomberg indicated that Russian officials viewed the prospects for a diplomatic breakthrough during this visit as extremely low. Moscow has hardened its demands on the ground, insisting on the complete transfer of the Donetsk region to Russian control, a condition the Ukrainian government consistently rejects. The Kremlin also reiterated on Friday that its core prerequisites, including Ukrainian renunciation of NATO membership and territorial concessions across four occupied regions, remain unchanged. Trump stated on Friday that the two national leaders maintained intense personal hostility, while claiming without evidence that the two sides had suffered a combined 32,000 casualties in a single week.

Itinerary moves to Kyiv

Witkoff and Kushner are scheduled to travel from Moscow to Kyiv on Sunday, 6 September 2026, for talks with Zelensky and senior Ukrainian officials. The trip represents the first official visit to the Ukrainian capital for both envoys since Trump took office on 20 January 2025. Trilateral negotiations involving the United States, Ukraine, and Russia had previously stalled after meetings on 17 and 18 February. American diplomatic attention had shifted largely to tensions with Iran over the preceding six months, following a prior Kremlin visit by Kushner and Witkoff in January. The Kyiv discussions follow an earlier Moscow visit in late August by CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who also requested mutual restraints on capital bombardments.