Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, and US special envoy Steve Witkoff held more than three hours of highly sensitive discussions with Vladimir Putin as the White House intensifies its latest push to broker an end to the war in Ukraine.
The American envoys arrived in Moscow on Saturday morning before being accompanied to the Kremlin by Kirill Dmitriev, the Russian president’s investment envoy.
During the closed-door meeting, Putin characterized the war as a “complicated situation” while offering praise for Trump’s stated determination to bring the conflict to a close.
“Understanding that he is entering a difficult situation, he nevertheless does not stop his efforts to help bring about a settlement and to make his contribution to resolving the Russian-Ukrainian conflict,” Putin said of Trump.
Following the meeting, Putin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters the talks had been constructive, candid and useful, though he offered no details on any concrete results.
He said Moscow offered its ‘comprehensive assessment’ of the battlefield situation in Ukraine, but also that the conversation was not purely focused on Russia’s invasion.
‘Economic issues and potentially large, mutually beneficial joint projects for Russia and America were discussed in considerable detail,’ Ushakov said.
Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy both agreed to pause strikes on each other’s capitals while the talks took place.
Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner (left) and special envoy Steve Witkoff (second left) spent over three hours in top-secret talks with Vladimir Putin
Putin described the conflict in Ukraine as a ‘complicated situation,’ but praised Trump for wanting to end the war
Trump described Kushner and Witkoff as two ‘great negotiators’
‘Putin has ordered that no strikes be carried out against Kyiv for three days, starting at midnight today,’ presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s Tass news agency.
Zelenskyy said that Ukraine was prepared to halt strikes on Moscow until Monday. He said he spoke on Saturday afternoon with the US delegation after their arrival in Moscow.
‘From now through the end of Saturday, as well as on Sunday and Monday, Ukraine is ready to refrain from strikes on Moscow, and we expect the Russians to do the same regarding Kyiv,’ he said.
Washington’s push to end the fighting has lost momentum as US attention has been focused for the past six months on the Iran war.
‘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.
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‘They’re bringing with them a proposal to end the war,’ he said.
Witkoff and Kushner last visited Moscow in January, when they also held talks with Putin at the Kremlin.
Both US envoys will also visit Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, for the first time as part of the peace process on Sunday, Ukrainian officials said.
Kushner and Witkoff landed in Moscow on Saturday morning and were escorted by the Russian President’s investment envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, to the Kremlin
Firefighters work on the site of a Russian drone strike in the Kyiv region overnight
Russian forces invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
Ahead of the envoys’ arrival, Putin’s deputy foreign minister warned the US about how to bring the four-year war to an end.
‘The key question is the extent to which the US administration is prepared to invest in finding a real solution to the current crisis, considering the realities on the ground,’ Sergei Ryabkov said.
This, according to Ryabkov, was a situation not developing in Kyiv’s favor, Russian state news agency TASS reported.
It comes as Zelensky announced today that Russia carried out ‘deliberate’ strikes on Ukrainian airports overnight in Kyiv and Boryspil.
‘Clearly, these Russian strikes on the airports are a reaction to the discussions and preparations for the possibility of the US side using an aircraft to travel to Ukraine and land at Kyiv Airport or Boryspil Airport,’ he wrote on X.
‘We have taken note of this Russian move, and next week we will adjust our operation accordingly regarding Russian airspace, which has become dangerous because of our drones and missiles in the sky.
‘Of course, there are and will be no threats to diplomacy from our side. Ukraine is interested in bringing peace closer. Russia will be held accountable for what it does.’
The Ukrainian president added that four people were killed and five others injured after a Russian strike in Kamianske, in the Dnipro region.
The Daily Mail contacted the White House for comment.