US Envoys Land in Kyiv After Meeting Putin in Moscow
KYIV, Ukraine — US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Kyiv on Sunday for their first-ever official visit to Ukraine, marking a renewed American push to broker an end to Russia’s full-scale invasion now in its fifth year. The diplomatic mission follows more than three hours of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow the previous day, as reported by NPR.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the envoys at Sofiiska Square in front of the historic Saint Sophia Cathedral, greeting them with embraces before leading them inside for negotiations. “We have been waiting for Steve and Jared, Witkoff and Kushner, for a long time,” Zelensky said, according to the Kyiv Independent.
A Long-Awaited Journey
The envoys arrived by train after flying from Russia to the Polish airport in Rzeszow. Zelensky noted that Russian strikes on Ukrainian airports had prevented a direct flight into the country. The journey marked a significant departure from previous diplomatic efforts — while Witkoff and Kushner have visited Moscow eight times during the war, this was their first trip to Ukraine’s capital.
“The trip was great,” Witkoff commented on his rail journey, even as sources indicated he had previously been reluctant to travel to the country by train. “I loved the train,” he confirmed during the post-meeting briefing.
The initial bilateral US-Ukraine discussions lasted approximately three hours and included a working lunch. According to the Moscow Times, the talks addressed Ukraine’s winter needs, security guarantees, economic guarantees, and Patriot air defense supplies.
No Breakthrough in Moscow
The Moscow talks on Saturday ended without announcements of any breakthroughs. Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov described them as “constructive, frank, and useful” but declined to discuss specific outcomes. Putin’s investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev posted on X that the meeting had been an “important peacemaking visit.”
Putin praised Trump’s efforts to end the war, saying: “Understanding that he is entering a difficult situation, he nevertheless does not stop his efforts to help bring about a settlement and to make his contribution to resolving the Russian-Ukrainian conflict,” as France24 reported.
Trump told reporters on Friday that his envoys were bringing a proposal “to end the war” in Ukraine, saying “We have an idea for peace.” He also described a “personality problem” between Zelensky and Putin, claiming “they truly hate each other,” according to Al Jazeera.
European Allies Join the Talks
National security advisers from the UK, France, and Germany joined a later round of talks with the US envoys and Ukrainian officials in Kyiv. The UK was represented by Jonathan Powell, while France was represented by Emmanuel Bonne. Their unannounced attendance signals continued European engagement in the peace process alongside the US effort.
After the first round of talks, Witkoff told reporters the discussions had been “substantive, important, and we are very encouraged.” Kushner relayed “personal regards” from Trump and underscored the importance of building “long-term, durable peace” that would allow Ukraine “to build themselves into the great nation that they have the fullest potential to achieve.”
Zelensky, in turn, emphasized that the war should be ended in a way that prevents Russia from launching aggression again. “We are all on the same side,” he said. “We all want the war to end.”
A Limited Truce and Continued Fighting
Both Putin and Zelensky agreed to pause strikes on each other’s capitals for three days to ensure the safety of the US negotiators. Putin ordered Russian forces not to strike Kyiv from midnight Saturday for three days, while Ukraine’s army was ordered to halt fighting from September 5-8.
However, the limited truce did not stop the broader conflict. Russian attacks across multiple Ukrainian regions killed at least one person and injured at least 10 others overnight into Sunday, according to ABC News. Ukraine’s air force intercepted 82 drones out of 108 launched by Russia, while Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down 258 Ukrainian drones over 14 regions.
Sticking Points Remain
The talks were based on a 20-point peace plan put forward by Washington and Kyiv in December 2025, but the two sides have failed to reach common ground on several key issues, including control of territory in east Ukraine. Russia demands Ukraine’s withdrawal from entrenched towns in Donbas and abandonment of NATO membership aspirations, while Kyiv has refused to surrender land it has successfully defended at huge cost.
Washington’s mediation efforts had stalled since March 2026 when the US and Israel launched a war on Iran, diverting America’s attention from the Ukraine conflict for approximately six months. The resumption of Ukraine-focused diplomacy marks a renewed US effort after that diversion.
Mixed Hopes on the Ground
In Kyiv, residents expressed cautious — and sometimes skeptical — views about the diplomatic push. Nataliia Lipei, 67, whose son was killed in December 2022, said: “I hope these steps and these meetings will definitely produce results, because there has been so much bloodshed and so many deaths here that we have to stop all of this.”
But Oleksandr Pastukhov, 27, a video editor, was more doubtful: “We’ve already seen delegations like this come here before. We’ve seen this so-called ceasefire for three days, which ended after just a couple of hours, and now we’re supposed to naively think that two people will come and change something.”
Political analyst Artem Bronzhukov told the Guardian that “people don’t trust the Russians and people don’t trust Trump personally.”
What’s Next
Zelensky said after the talks that he expects “the war will continue” into the winter months, indicating no major breakthrough was achieved. He said Kyiv is counting heavily on winter aid packages, air defense support, and assistance for the energy sector.
Both sides agreed to further trilateral meetings without announcing dates or locations. Zelensky said: “We’ve agreed that Ukraine, Europe, and the U.S. will meet in the near future.” A White House official told journalists that the two parties “discussed substantive plans for next steps, which will be announced in the coming weeks.”
Kyrylo Budanov, head of Zelensky’s office, told the New York Times that US-mediated peace talks could resume in late September. As winter approaches and Russia prepares for a new wave of strikes against Ukraine’s energy grid, the path to peace remains uncertain — but the diplomatic door has been reopened.