US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff arrived in Kyiv on Sunday by train, marking their first visit to the Ukrainian capital since the war began. The trip comes a day after the pair met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow to discuss ending more than four years of fighting between Russia and Ukraine.
It was the eighth time Kushner and Witkoff have traveled to Moscow during the war, but this was their first stop in Kyiv, a city that has endured repeated deadly Russian strikes since the invasion began in February 2022. Ukraine’s airspace has been closed throughout the war, forcing visiting officials to arrive by train, as an AFP reporter observed when the envoys arrived.
The two men are expected to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Ahead of the visit, Zelensky wrote on social media that “Ukraine has always been and will remain constructive” and said the country was “ready for the conversation.”
What happened in Moscow
A White House official said Saturday’s meeting with Putin was meant to “advance President Trump’s agenda of peace in the Russia-Ukraine War.” The official added that “the two sides discussed substantive plans for next steps, which will be announced in the coming weeks, and look forward to equally productive meetings tomorrow in Ukraine.”
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov described the discussions as “extremely frank,” saying the American envoys “put forward a number of ideas on possible routes to a settlement,” though he gave no further details. Ushakov also said the Russian side told the Americans that Moscow remained “confident” it could achieve its military goal of seizing the remainder of eastern Ukraine.
President Trump said Friday that his envoys were carrying a “proposal” to end the fighting, telling reporters, “We have an idea for peace,” without elaborating further. Putin, for his part, thanked Trump for persisting with the effort despite it being “not simple,” and said of the Kyiv trip: “No matter what happens next, contacts of this kind are undoubtedly always beneficial.”
Putin also pledged to protect the envoys during their time in Kyiv, telling Witkoff and Kushner: “We will do everything that depends on us to ensure the safety of the negotiation process and mediators such as yourselves.”
A fragile pause in the capitals
Both Moscow and Kyiv agreed to hold off on striking each other’s capitals for three days to allow the negotiations to proceed. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin “has given the order from midnight not to strike Kyiv for three days.” Zelensky similarly said Ukraine would “refrain from strikes on Moscow” through Monday.
Fighting elsewhere in the country did not stop. Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia launched 108 drones and missiles overnight, while Moscow said it downed 258 Ukrainian drones. Putin said he had “noted that the Ukrainian side significantly reduced” its strikes on Russia and Moscow.
Ukrainian officials said Russian strikes killed 10 people across the country on Saturday, including a child and family members in the Kharkiv region and two people just outside Kyiv.
Little optimism on the ground
Despite the diplomatic activity, many in Kyiv remain skeptical that this round of talks will produce results. “At this point it doesn’t give me any hope. There have already been too many negotiations,” 29-year-old Kyiv resident Yaroslav told AFP.
US-led efforts to broker an end to the war have yet to produce a breakthrough, with the process complicated in part by Washington’s separate conflict with Iran. Russia continues to occupy large parts of eastern and southern Ukraine, and Putin has repeatedly said Moscow intends to take the rest of the east. The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions since it began.
