Trump Envoys Reach Kyiv for First Time in Ukraine Peace Push

After three hours of talks with Putin in Moscow, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Kyiv on Sunday for their first-ever visit to Ukraine's capital.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law, arrived in Kyiv on Sunday and were welcomed by President Volodymyr Zelensky ahead of talks on ending the war. The visit is the envoys' first to the Ukrainian capital since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022. They travelled from Moscow, where they held a three-hour meeting with Putin at the Kremlin on Saturday, stopping en route at Rzeszow in Poland, per Russian state media cited by CNN. Zelensky said beforehand that Ukraine was ready for a constructive discussion and had drawn up proposals for peace and security guarantees.

The arrival is notable for what has never happened before: despite repeated US-brokered talks over the past 18 months, Witkoff and Kushner have visited Moscow several times but had never set foot in Kyiv as negotiators. Reuters reports that the visit has long been sought by Ukraine's leadership and was repeatedly reconsidered in recent days before being finalized. Previous rounds of US-led diplomacy, including Trump's Anchorage summit with Putin in 2025 and a canceled Budapest meeting, produced little visible progress, making this the most significant attempt in months to restart negotiations.

Saturday's Kremlin talks lasted more than three hours behind closed doors, followed by dinner with Putin, and ended without announced breakthroughs. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov described the discussions as useful, constructive and extremely frank, saying the Americans had prepared seriously and offered considerations on possible paths to a settlement. Ushakov said economic issues and potential large, mutually beneficial Russian-American projects were also discussed in detail. A White House official said the two sides discussed substantive plans for next steps, which will be announced in the coming weeks.

Russia and Ukraine agreed a 72-hour pause on strikes against each other's capitals for the duration of the diplomacy, beginning midnight Friday into Saturday. The truce covers only Kyiv and Moscow, and fighting elsewhere continued: Ukraine's air force said Russia launched 108 Shahed-type drones overnight into Sunday, and CNN reports 10 Ukrainian civilians were killed in the past 24 hours, with 65 injured. Zelensky said Russia struck Kyiv and Boryspil airports ahead of the visit, which he called a reaction to preparations for a possible US aircraft landing. In Russia, the defense ministry said it shot down 258 Ukrainian drones overnight.

The obstacles remain unchanged. Reuters notes the sides have stayed far apart on the future of the Donbas region, where Russia demands Ukrainian withdrawal from towns it still holds, while Kyiv insists hard security guarantees from the US and European allies are essential to deter another invasion. In Kyiv, residents voiced mixed hopes: a veteran told Reuters the issue could be solved quickly, while a 67-year-old mother of a fallen soldier hoped the meetings would finally stop the bloodshed.

The envoys met Zelensky and top Ukrainian officials in central Kyiv on Sunday, with British, French and German national security advisers also in the city, according to Reuters. Ukraine's intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said the day would be filled with important talks. Whether the meetings narrow the gap sufficiently for negotiations to resume, or merely expose how far apart the sides remain, will shape the next phase. Trump told reporters Friday the envoys were carrying a proposal to end the war and said there may be a good chance it succeeds, with next steps to be announced in the coming weeks.