US President Donald Trump’s top negotiators have met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, as efforts to end the war in Ukraine gather pace.
Footage released by the Kremlin showed Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner being greeted by Putin, who said the current situation “is not so easy”.
Witkoff thanked Putin for agreeing with Ukraine to halt strikes on each other’s capitals for three days. On Sunday the envoys will travel to Kyiv for more talks – their first such visit to Ukraine’s capital.
On Friday, Trump said Witkoff and Kushner were “bringing with them a proposal to end the war”. So far, efforts by the US and its allies to broker a peace deal have failed.
At Saturday’s talks in the Kremlin, Putin also said that “whatever happens, such contacts are undoubtedly always useful”. He also thanked Trump for his peacemaking efforts.
He told the envoys that he was “comfortable” working with them, adding: “Of course on our side there is quite a high level of trust during this work.”
The talks – held behind closed doors in Putin’s official residence in the heart of the Russian capital – lasted for three hours, according to Russian state media.
Details are still emerging, but Putin adviser Yuri Ushakov described the talks as “constructive, extremely frank”.
“The talks were not limited to an exchange of views on resolving the Ukrainian crisis – economic issues and potential major, mutually beneficial Russian-American projects were discussed in considerable detail,” he said.
Ushakov also said “note was made of the Russian army’s tangible advances in the combat zone” and that there was acknowledgement that talks needed to address “the root causes of the conflict”.
Despite an escalation of Russian missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities including Kyiv, Russian ground forces have made very slow advances for most of the conflict, incurring enormous casualties. Russia still controls about one-fifth of Ukrainian territory – areas that it seized back in 2022.
Zelensky said earlier on Saturday that he had spoken to the envoys, who have “already begun working with the Russian side today”.
“The plan for tomorrow’s diplomatic engagements in Kyiv, involving the US team, has been approved. We are waiting for Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and are ready for a substantive conversation,” he added.
“From now through the end of Saturday, as well as on Sunday and Monday, Ukraine is ready to refrain from strikes on Moscow, and we expect the Russians to do the same regarding Kyiv.”
Russian state media reported that Putin had ordered a halt to strikes on Kyiv for three days due to the US visit.
In televised remarks, Putin said Russia had not agreed to a ceasefire for the rest of Ukraine outside of the capital.
The Russian president said he would “ensure the security of the negotiating process” and of the mediators.
Kushner and Witkoff have visited Russia several times but the talks on Sunday would be the first in Ukraine. It is not clear how the US envoys will be travelling from Moscow to Kyiv.
Ukraine’s airspace has been closed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
