US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Moscow on Saturday to attempt to revive peace negotiations to end Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Carrying a new proposal from President Donald Trump, the envoys met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev. This mission marks the pair's first visit to Kyiv since Trump's reelection and represents a renewed diplomatic effort to resolve a conflict now in its fifth year.
To facilitate the discussions, President Putin ordered a 72-hour pause in strikes on Kyiv. Both Russia and Ukraine agreed to suspend attacks on each other's capitals for three days while the talks took place. This temporary halt comes amid escalated aerial attacks, including recent Russian strikes on the Dnipropetrovsk region that killed four people.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov described the talks with the US envoys as extremely frank, noting that the US side put forward a number of ideas regarding possible routes to a settlement. While Putin praised Trump's efforts, the mission faces a climate of skepticism in Ukraine. Previous Washington efforts to broker peace have yielded few results, as diplomatic momentum had lost steam while US attention focused on a war with Iran for the last six months.
Following their substantive talks in Moscow, Witkoff and Kushner are scheduled to travel to Kyiv on Sunday to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The envoys aim to resuscitate a deal to end the war as they transition from the Russian capital to the Ukrainian capital.