US President Donald Trump said Friday he is sending envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Moscow and Kyiv this weekend with a proposal to end the war in Ukraine, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. A senior Ukrainian official told AFP the envoys were due to arrive in Kyiv on Sunday. US outlet Axios reported they would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday before travelling to Kyiv.
A business jet believed to be carrying Witkoff and Kushner touched down in Moscow on Saturday, Russia's Interfax news agency reported, citing aviation sources. The Kremlin declined to comment on the planned meetings. Trump told reporters the two negotiators would "see whether or not we can get something done" and said "there may be a good chance that we'll do it."
The move represents Washington's latest effort to break a diplomatic stalemate in what has become Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II. In late August, CIA Director John Ratcliffe travelled to Moscow in part to press counterparts there to consider a settlement, Reuters and several other media outlets reported. The US also welcomed the Russian finance minister at a G20 gathering in North Carolina earlier this week.
Trump did not say whether his proposal involves Ukraine ceding territory, as he has previously suggested. Witkoff and Kushner have been involved in negotiations for ceasefires in Gaza and have travelled repeatedly to Moscow on previous diplomatic missions. This will be their first visit to Kyiv since Trump returned to office with a pledge to resolve the conflict.
The diplomatic push comes as Russia and Ukraine intensify long-range attacks on each other's territory. A Russian drone struck the headquarters of Ukraine's SBU security service in central Kyiv on Saturday, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky, marking the first such strike on the building since the invasion began. Hours later, regional officials said a Russian strike killed four people and wounded five in the southeastern city of Kamianske.
Zelensky proposed observing a ceasefire during the US envoys' visit, stating: "There will be no air strikes on our part, and Russia must reciprocally ensure a ceasefire – without its own air strikes – for the duration needed to conduct these talks." Russia did not immediately comment on the proposal.
