US Envoys Witkoff and Kushner Hold Talks in Moscow and Kyiv on Ukraine War

US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, key mediators in President Donald Trump's efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war, traveled to Moscow and then Kyiv over the weekend of September 4-6, 2026. The visit followed a period in which the broader peace talks had stalled. In Moscow, the envoys held meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin as part of a renewed diplomatic push. After their discussions in Moscow, Witkoff and Kushner traveled to Kyiv on September 6 for talks with Ukrainian officials, marking their first visit to Ukraine during this diplomatic effort. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met the pair in Sophia Square in front of Saint Sophia Cathedral, greeting Witkoff with a hug and the words, "It's good to see you, Steve." Zelenskyy had called for a halt to air attacks during the envoys' visit, though Moscow did not publicly respond to that request. One report characterized the Moscow discussions as covering "substantive plans" for ending the war, though specific details of any proposals were not corroborated across multiple sources. As of the latest reporting, the talks in Kyiv were ongoing, with the visit described as a second day of discussions on ending the war following the Moscow meetings. No agreement or concrete outcome from the Moscow or Kyiv talks had been confirmed at the time of these reports. It remains unresolved what specific proposals were discussed with Putin, whether Russia would respond to Zelenskyy's call to halt air attacks, and what concrete next steps, if any, would follow from the envoys' visit to both capitals.