Kushner, Witkoff meet Putin and Zelenskyy

Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on September 5 and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on September 6, opening a new round of U.S. shuttle diplomacy over the war in Ukraine. The back-to-back meetings were confirmed by the Kremlin and Zelenskyy’s office, which both published readouts. No ceasefire or political settlement was announced after either stop, but officials on all sides described the discussions as substantive. The trip was the pair’s first official visit to Kyiv during Russia’s full-scale invasion and the latest in a series of Moscow contacts led by Witkoff. ### Why did the U.S. envoys go to Moscow first? The Kremlin said Putin received Witkoff and Kushner at the Kremlin in Moscow on September 5, with presidential aide Yuri Ushakov and RDIF chief Kirill Dmitriev also attending on the Russian side. Putin told the visitors they would “discuss all” components of the conflict and noted that he understood they planned to go to Kyiv after Moscow. Yuri Ushakov said after the session that the conversation lasted “more than three hours — three hours and 10 minutes, to be precise” and was “substantive, constructive, exceptionally frank.” Ushakov said the Russian side used the meeting to present its assessment of the war and to restate what he called the need to address the conflict’s “root causes.” (en.kremlin.ru) ### What did Kyiv say after the envoys arrived? Zelenskyy’s office said on September 7 that the Ukrainian president met Witkoff and Kushner in Kyiv and discussed negotiations to end the war. (en.kremlin.ru) Zelenskyy said at a press conference after the meeting that “negotiations to end Russia’s war against our country are important in any format in which such diplomatic steps are possible.” (en.kremlin.ru) ABC, citing remarks made before reporters in Kyiv, said Kushner told Zelenskyy that President Donald Trump wanted the envoys to convey his regards and saw the war as “a very, very hard and complex problem” but “a very worthy problem worth solving.” Zelenskyy said it was important for Trump’s negotiators to come to Ukraine after their meetings in Russia. ### Was there any sign of movement in the talks? (president.gov.ua) Reuters reported from Kyiv on September 6 that Witkoff and Kushner said there was new momentum in peace contacts after meeting Zelenskyy, though no breakthrough was announced. AP reporting carried by U.S. News said the talks in Kyiv were “encouraging” but also produced no breakthrough toward ending the war. (abcnews.com) Witkoff told reporters in Kyiv, according to ABC, that the discussions were “very meaningful” and “substantive [and] important.” A White House official cited by ABC said the Moscow meeting had covered “substantive plans for next steps” on the path toward a peace deal. ### What was the reported pause in strikes? Published reports on September 5 and September 6 said Russia and Ukraine paused strikes on each other’s capitals while the U.S. envoys traveled between Moscow and Kyiv. (usnews.com) Canadian Press reporting said Putin and Zelenskyy agreed to pause strikes on Kyiv and Moscow during the talks, while Reuters said the Kyiv visit came amid a temporary halt in attacks on the capitals. (abcnews.com) Other reports described the Russian side’s step more narrowly as a 72-hour pause in strikes on Kyiv beginning around the time of the envoys’ visit. Those reports also noted that fighting continued elsewhere, including along the front and in other Ukrainian regions. ### Who else was brought into the Kyiv discussions? Zelenskyy said the Kyiv talks expanded beyond the U.S. and Ukrainian delegations. (panow.com) RBC-Ukraine reported, citing Zelenskyy’s public remarks, that representatives of the United Kingdom, France and Germany joined later rounds of discussion in Kyiv. Zelenskyy had signaled the sequence in advance. On September 4, his office published remarks saying the U.S. team had informed Kyiv that Witkoff and Kushner would visit Moscow and then Kyiv. (time.com) On September 5, the Ukrainian presidency said Zelenskyy had already spoken with the envoys as they began work with the Russian side. ### What comes next after this round? September 7 is the latest official marker from Kyiv. Zelenskyy said then that negotiations would continue in any format that allowed diplomatic steps toward ending the war, according to his office. (newsukraine.rbc.ua) The Kremlin said Witkoff and Kushner undertook to relay the Russian position to Trump after the Moscow talks. That leaves the next visible step with Washington and with any follow-up contacts among the U.S., Ukrainian and European participants who joined the Kyiv meetings. (president.gov.ua) (en.kremlin.ru) (president.gov.ua)