Jared Kushner held his first official talks in Ukraine on September 6 after visiting Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, marking a renewed push by the Trump administration to revive stalled peace negotiations over Russia’s four-and-a-half-year war in Ukraine.
Kushner and fellow envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Kyiv on Sunday following a three-hour meeting with Putin at the Kremlin on Saturday. The White House said the envoys had “discussed substantive plans for next steps” toward ending the conflict, though neither disclosed details of any fresh proposal.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised the Kyiv talks as “very substantive.” He said discussions focused on military aid, including Patriot missile systems and other weapons Ukraine needs in coming months. Zelenskyy also raised a “winter package” of support, warning that if the war continues into winter—as current conditions suggest—Ukraine will need “serious volumes” of U.S. backing alongside European partners.
Witkoff told reporters he was “very encouraged” by conversations with the Ukrainian team and said they had “heard new ideas” in Moscow. He expressed hope that a new round of U.S.-mediated trilateral talks between Kyiv, Moscow, and Washington would be announced “in short order.” However, neither envoy detailed what those ideas entailed or offered any breakthrough toward a settlement.
Kushner acknowledged the scale of the challenge. “It’s a very, very hard problem, but we’re going to try,” he said, noting the U.S. was working “behind the scenes” to create conditions for a possible deal.
The timing of the visit underscores how deeply negotiations have stalled. Previous U.S.-brokered peace talks—held in Geneva in February and other venues through mid-2026—yielded no agreement. The Kremlin said in July there was no immediate prospect of resuming talks, and Putin declared earlier this month that peace efforts were “to some extent frozen.” The envoys’ Moscow-to-Kyiv journey represents the first significant diplomatic momentum on Ukraine peace in months.
Both Russia and Ukraine observed a temporary halt in strikes during the envoys’ visit. Putin ordered a three-day pause on strikes against Kyiv, while Zelenskyy said Ukraine would reciprocate by halting attacks on Moscow. Fighting continued along the 1,200-kilometer front line and in other Ukrainian cities, however.
A central obstacle remains the future of Donbas, the industrial region of eastern Ukraine. Russia has demanded Ukrainian withdrawal from towns it currently controls; Kyiv has refused, arguing it can still hold the territory. Zelenskyy told reporters: “The question of Donbas… I believe, is the question of this war.” For Ukraine, hard security guarantees from the U.S. and European allies are equally crucial to deter future Russian aggression.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov described Saturday’s Moscow talks as “constructive, frank, and useful” but offered no details on outcomes. He said discussions also touched on economic issues and potential large Russia-U.S. projects. A White House official told Reuters that next steps would be announced in coming weeks, but stopped short of committing to a timeline or concrete proposal.
The envoys’ visit included British, French, and German national security advisers, who joined the final hour of talks—a sign of European partners’ stake in any settlement. Zelenskyy expressed gratitude for their presence, saying “Here we are all on the same side.”
Sources
- Reuters — Kushner and Witkoff’s three-hour Moscow meeting with Putin, Kyiv talks with Zelenskyy, temporary strike pause, discussions of military aid and security guarantees
- AP News — Confirmation of Kyiv visit as first official Ukraine trip, “encouraging” talks characterization
- Deutsche Welle — Details of Patriot missile discussions, winter aid package, Donbas territorial sticking point, Kushner’s acknowledgment of difficulty
- Washington Post — Context that visit aimed at reviving negotiations frozen for nearly eight months
