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U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are set to travel to Moscow and Kyiv this weekend for talks aimed at ending the war, according to the report.
The trip will mark Witkoff and Kushner’s first visit to Kyiv since Trump began his second term in office.
The two envoys are due to leave Friday and meet Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Saturday. They will then travel to Kyiv for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday, U.S. officials told Axios.
The planned visit comes 10 days after CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with the heads of Russia’s intelligence and security services in Moscow. Ratcliffe was seeking to determine whether Russian intelligence chiefs could persuade Putin to pursue diplomacy aimed at ending the war.
Witkoff and Kushner also met Trump at the White House on Thursday to discuss the trip.
Ukrainian and U.S. officials have been discussing the Kyiv visit for months. In recent days, the trip was put on and taken off the schedule several times for different reasons before officials settled on the weekend visit, the report suggested.
Zelenskyy earlier this week described a phone call with Witkoff and Kushner as “good,” saying the three discussed “locking in” dates for their trip to Ukraine.
In a video address on X a day earlier, Zelenskyy said he had met with his negotiation team to prepare for upcoming talks with the American side, adding that "tentative dates" had been set for the visit.
"This is very important. It is important that America remain actively engaged," Zelenskyy said, noting that Kyiv remains in communication with the U.S. side virtually 24/7.
Moscow and Kyiv last held peace negotiations under U.S. mediation earlier this year, with three rounds taking place on Jan. 23-24, Feb. 4-5 and Feb. 17-18. The first two rounds were held in Abu Dhabi, while the third took place in Geneva.
The negotiations have since been paused, with Moscow and Kyiv attributing the halt to the U.S. war on Iran, which began in late February.
Speaking Thursday at the Eastern Economic Forum in the Pacific port city of Vladivostok, Putin said he believes there is still a chance for a diplomatic settlement to the war.
The Russian president argued that Russia and Ukraine, as the countries directly involved in the conflict, should first reach a consensus before other countries contribute to the process. "We are grateful to everyone who is trying to contribute to resolving this issue. Are there chances? In my view, yes, there are," Putin said.
Asked about U.S. mediation, Putin noted that contacts between Moscow and Washington were continuing, including through intelligence channels. "We are in contact with the U.S. administration, and we are still in contact now. And I hope these contacts will continue, and ultimately, they will lead to a positive result," he said.
Putin also said restoring Russia-U.S. relations depended on both sides and described Trump as positively disposed toward constructive work. "As far as I understand, feel and see, President Trump is tuned for such a positive work," he said.
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