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Russian President Vladimir Putin began talks with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Moscow on Saturday, as Washington renewed efforts to end the more than four-year war in Ukraine.
Witkoff and Kushner arrived at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport earlier Saturday, where they were greeted by Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev.
"Dear colleagues, I warmly welcome you to Moscow. The situation is, of course, not simple," Putin told the envoys in footage aired by Russian TV. "But before we begin to address it, I would like to ask everyone to convey their best wishes and words of gratitude to U.S. President Mr. Trump," the Russian president added.
Witkoff thanked Putin for agreeing to the three-day ceasefire covering the envoys’ visits to Moscow and Kyiv. The meeting also included presidential aide Yury Ushakov and Dmitriev.
Following the meeting, Ushakov described the talks as "meaningful, constructive and extremely frank," saying the U.S. envoys presented a list of ideas on possible ways to resolve the conflict.
Ushakov said the talks lasted about three hours and 10 minutes and were held both formally at the desk and in a more informal setting. The discussions were not limited to Ukraine and also touched on potential large-scale Russian-American economic projects, according to statements reported by state-run TASS.
Putin reaffirmed Russia’s willingness to continue working with Washington to seek a political and diplomatic settlement to the war, while stressing the need to address the “root causes” of the conflict. He also pointed to the successes of Russian forces and expressed confidence that Russia would achieve its objectives in the war.
The U.S. negotiators said they would take Putin’s assessments into account during their subsequent contacts in Kyiv, according to Ushakov. He added that the sides would continue working through the American negotiators and that Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump would maintain personal contact.
The Kremlin did not provide details about the proposals presented by Witkoff and Kushner or indicate whether the talks had produced any concrete agreement.
After the talks, Dmitriev saw off Witkoff and Kushner at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport before they headed to Kyiv for talks with Ukrainian officials.
The envoys’ latest visit follows a rare trip to Moscow last month by CIA Director John Ratcliffe. Witkoff and Kushner had last visited Moscow in late January, when they also met Putin at the Kremlin.
The talks also came as Russia and Ukraine agreed to temporarily refrain from striking each other’s capitals during the negotiations.
The Kremlin announced that Putin had ordered Russian forces not to strike Kyiv for three days starting at midnight Saturday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later pledged that Ukraine would also halt strikes on Moscow through Monday.
"The Russian president, the commander-in-chief, has given the order from midnight tonight not to strike Kyiv for three days," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
Zelenskyy responded that he had spoken with the U.S. envoys and that Ukraine would refrain from strikes on Moscow during the same period. "From now through the end of Saturday, as well as on Sunday and Monday, Ukraine is ready to refrain from strikes on Moscow," Zelenskyy said in a post on X.
The U.S. envoys were expected to travel to Kyiv on Sunday, marking the first time Witkoff and Kushner had traveled to the Ukrainian capital since Trump returned to office last year with a pledge to resolve the conflict.
Trump said the envoys would seek to determine whether progress toward peace was possible.
"I sent Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, two great negotiators. They've done a great job, and we sent them over to see whether or not we can get something done. And there may be a good chance that we'll do it," Trump said.
Trump did not say whether the proposal involved Ukraine ceding territory, an idea he had previously suggested, but added, "We have an idea for peace."
The renewed diplomatic push came as Russia and Ukraine continued to exchange long-range missile and drone attacks, driving up civilian casualties.
Just hours before Trump announced the envoys’ trip on Friday, a Russian drone struck the headquarters of Ukraine’s SBU security service in central Kyiv. Zelenskyy said the strike targeted the office of the agency’s acting chief and marked the first attack on its headquarters since the start of Russia’s offensive.
Peace efforts to end the war, which has been ongoing since 2022, stalled in part after Washington shifted its focus to the war with Iran in February 2026. The main sticking points include territory, security guarantees for Ukraine and Kyiv’s future relationship with NATO.
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