MOSCOW, Sept. 6: US President Donald Trump’s senior negotiators have met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow as Washington steps up diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine, the BBC reports.
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held a three-hour meeting with Putin at the Kremlin, according to Russian state media. Kremlin footage showed Putin welcoming the US envoys and acknowledging that the situation was “not so easy.”
The BBC said Witkoff thanked Putin for agreeing to a three-day pause in strikes against the Russian and Ukrainian capitals. The US representatives are due to travel to Kyiv on Sunday for talks with Ukrainian officials, marking their first visit to the Ukrainian capital as part of the current diplomatic push.
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Trump said Friday that Witkoff and Kushner were carrying a proposal aimed at ending the conflict. Previous US and allied efforts to broker a peace agreement have failed to produce a settlement.
Putin, according to the BBC, described continued contacts with Washington as useful and thanked Trump for his efforts to promote peace. His adviser Yuri Ushakov characterized the talks as “constructive” and “extremely frank,” saying discussions extended beyond the war to economic cooperation and potential Russian-US projects.
Ushakov also said the two sides discussed Russian military gains and the need to address what Moscow calls the “root causes” of the conflict.
Russia controls roughly one-fifth of Ukrainian territory, much of it seized in 2022. While Russian forces have made limited ground advances during much of the war, Moscow has continued heavy missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had spoken with the US envoys and that preparations for Sunday’s meetings in Kyiv had been completed. He said Ukraine was prepared to refrain from attacks on Moscow through Monday and expected Russia to reciprocate around Kyiv.
The BBC reported that Putin had ordered a three-day halt to strikes on Kyiv during the US visit, but Putin later made clear that Russia had not agreed to a broader ceasefire covering the rest of Ukraine.
Zelensky also accused Russia of carrying out “demonstrative” strikes on airports near Kyiv ahead of the planned visit, suggesting they could be linked to discussions over whether a US aircraft might land there.
Ukraine’s airspace has remained closed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. The BBC noted that it remains unclear how Witkoff and Kushner will travel from Moscow to Kyiv.
