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US President Donald Trump’s senior negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on September 5 2026 for three hours of closed-door discussions on ending the conflict in Ukraine. Putin told the envoys the situation “is not so easy” while thanking Trump for peacemaking efforts and stating that Russia would outline its position according to footage released by the Kremlin and carried by BBC News. The Russian leader added that such contacts are always useful and expressed a high level of trust in working with the pair a Kremlin aide told reporters after the session.
The envoys are scheduled to arrive in the Ukrainian capital on September 6 for talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky whose office confirmed the plan had been approved following a telephone conversation with the Americans on Saturday. Zelensky stated “We are waiting for Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and are ready for a substantive conversation” in remarks distributed via Telegram and reported by RFERL. This visit marks the first time the two US representatives have traveled to Kyiv in their current roles amid renewed diplomatic activity that follows multiple rounds earlier in the year.
Trump announced on September 4 that Witkoff and Kushner were carrying a proposal to end the war which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 and has stretched into a fifth year. The New York Times reported that negotiations for the weekend trip had continued for weeks with both sides agreeing to a three-day pause on strikes against each other’s capitals to facilitate the talks. Witkoff thanked Putin for the temporary halt during the Moscow meeting according to statements carried by Al Jazeera.
Kremlin foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov described the Moscow session as substantive very frank and constructive adding that the US team had presented its position and would convey Putin’s views to Ukrainian leaders. Russian state media including TASS and RIA Novosti reported the Americans left the Kremlin around 11 p.m. local time on September 5 before departing Moscow shortly after midnight. The talks build on previous US-brokered efforts that included sessions in Abu Dhabi in February 2026 where territorial questions and security guarantees were discussed according to accounts in The Washington Post.
Ukrainian officials had proposed the mutual restraint on attacks against Moscow and Kyiv to allow safe passage for the mediators with Zelensky vowing no Ukrainian airstrikes during the period. Putin assured the safety of the envoys and ordered a pause on Russian strikes on the Ukrainian capital during their visit Bloomberg News reported citing Russian media. The agreement was highlighted across regional coverage as both sides continued aerial operations outside the designated pause window.
The diplomatic push comes after earlier engagements including a January 2026 Kremlin meeting between the same US envoys and Putin as well as trilateral discussions that produced limited progress on core disputes such as control of the Donbas region. Dawn newspaper noted that the current round follows months in which momentum slowed while US attention shifted toward other international crises including tensions with Iran. Zelensky’s office has repeatedly emphasized readiness for substantive dialogue while maintaining positions on territorial integrity that have remained consistent through the series of negotiations.
