Trump envoys visit Moscow and Kyiv for first shuttle on ending Russia's war
US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held more than three hours of talks with Vladimir Putin in Moscow on 5 September, then travelled by train to Kyiv on 6 September for the first time since Russia's full-scale invasion, meeting President Volodymyr Zelensky and European national security advisors in a three-round format. Zelensky said the envoys brought "several good, worthy ideas" he cannot yet disclose, agreed to a follow-up visit, and insisted European partners be part of all future formats. US envoy Witkoff said "substantial progress" had been made, while the Kremlin said it is premature to discuss a venue or dates for trilateral talks.
Key points
- Witkoff and Kushner met Putin in Moscow on 5 September for more than three hours, then arrived in Kyiv by train on 6 September — their first visit to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
- Kyiv talks included three rounds; national security advisors from Germany, France and the UK joined the second round.
- Zelensky said the envoys brought 'several good, worthy ideas' for ending the war, but the details are being worked out before public disclosure.
- The two sides agreed Witkoff and Kushner would return to Kyiv; Zelensky expects to meet US President Donald Trump in the 20s of September.
- Witkoff said 'substantial progress' was made and laid groundwork for trilateral talks; the Kremlin said it is premature to discuss venue or dates.
- Ukraine was ready to receive the US plane at Boryspil or Zhuliany airports, but the Americans chose a train after Russian strikes on both runways the day before the visit.
- Ukrainian Deputy head of the President's Office Pavlo Palisa briefed the envoys that Russia has postponed 15 times the deadlines for reaching the borders of Donetsk Oblast, while Russian military commanders have asked to push the deadline to 31 March 2027.
Why it matters
The Moscow-Kyiv shuttle was the first visit by the Trump-era envoys to Ukraine since the full-scale invasion began, signalling a return of direct US engagement in war-ending talks. The three-round format, the European E3 presence in the second round, and the public US claim of "substantial progress" all point to a new diplomatic phase in which Ukraine is seeking to lock European partners into every future format. Witkoff's announcement of groundwork for trilateral talks, combined with the Kremlin's refusal to rule them out, opens the way for a potential Zelensky-Trump meeting in late September and a possible three-way summit.
What happened
On 5 September, US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Vladimir Putin in Moscow for more than three hours. The next morning they travelled by train to Kyiv — their first visit to Ukraine since the full-scale invasion — for three rounds of talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky. National security advisors from Germany, France and the United Kingdom joined the second round. Zelensky said the envoys brought "several good, worthy ideas" he could not publicly disclose because the sides agreed to work them out first, and announced that the envoys had agreed to return to Kyiv. Witkoff publicly reported "substantial progress" and groundwork for trilateral talks; Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was premature to discuss venue or dates. In a separate briefing to the envoys, Deputy Head of the President's Office Pavlo Palisa said Russia has postponed 15 times the deadlines for reaching the borders of Donetsk Oblast, that its political leadership aims to capture Donbas by the end of 2026, and that Russian military commanders have requested shifting the deadline to 31 March 2027. Zelensky also disclosed that Ukraine was ready to receive the American plane at Boryspil or Zhuliany, but the US side chose a train after Russian strikes on both runways the day before.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Ukrainian sources frame the visit as substantive and as evidence of a strengthening of Ukraine's negotiating position. They foreground the three-round format, the inclusion of E3 (Germany, France, UK) national security advisors from the second round, and Zelensky's insistence that European partners be part of all future formats. They stress the battlefield briefings Palisa, Commander-in-Chief Mykhailo Drapatyi, head of the Office of the President Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Main Intelligence Directorate Oleh Ivashchenko, and Air Force commander Anatoliy Kryvonozhko gave to the envoys — repeated postponements of Russia's Donetsk deadlines, the cost of hundreds of Russian soldiers killed and wounded per square kilometre, and the absence of original Russian technology in jet drones. They also use the Russian strikes on Boryspil and Zhuliany runways to underline Moscow's attempt to project an absence of security in Ukraine. Zelensky's claim that the envoys brought "good, worthy ideas" and agreed to return is presented as a concrete gain.
How international sources describe it
International coverage, represented in this synthesis by Al Jazeera Arabic (Qatar), centres Washington's framing of possible trilateral negotiations and the public exchange between Moscow and Kyiv, with less emphasis on the battlefield briefings or the European-inclusion demand. International outlets foreground Witkoff's announcement on X of "substantial progress" and set the visit against Kremlin-linked Bloomberg sources reporting "extremely low" expectations in Moscow, highlighting persistent uncertainty about Russian intentions and the gap between US optimism and Russian signalling.
Where reporting differs
Sources differ on three points. First, Putin's stated goal of capturing Donbas by the end of 2026 sits uneasily beside a Reuters-sourced claim that he believes Russian forces can take the rest of Donetsk Oblast "by the end of the year," with the relevant year unspecified. Second, analyst Oleksandr Kraiev argues the Moscow-first shuttle order disadvantaged Kyiv and played more to Russia's side, while Zelensky frames the same visit as strengthening Ukraine's negotiating position. Third, Peskov describes any trilateral talks as premature and says Russia had not yet been briefed on the Kyiv contacts, while Zelensky and Witkoff describe a "substantive" round with groundwork already laid for trilateral talks and a possible announcement soon.
Background
Russia has been waging a full-scale military offensive against Ukraine since 24 February 2022. Moscow conditions ending the war on Kyiv renouncing its NATO bid, a demand Kyiv considers unacceptable interference in its internal affairs. In November the previous year, the US brought a 28-point plan to Kyiv that included leaving Donbas, cutting the army and dropping the NATO course; work on it continued trilaterally but produced no territorial consensus. Witkoff and Kushner had previously visited Moscow together on 22 January, making the 5 September meeting their second joint Moscow trip. The US envoys reportedly cited the Russian State Duma "elections" scheduled for 18–20 September as the trigger for a new Russian negotiating readiness. The Kyiv talks covered security guarantees, economic support, air defence supplies and a pre-winter assistance package; 67 Ukrainian companies are working on interceptor drones to counter jet-propelled Russian UAVs.