US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law of US President Donald Trump – Jared Kushner, arrived in Moscow today for an extraordinary visit. The visit aims to restart stalled diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine. It comes at a crucial moment, just hours after Donald Trump announced that Washington had a “concrete proposal” for peace.
The meeting with Kirill Dmitriev and talks in the Kremlin
Upon landing at the government airport “Vnukovo“ in Moscow, the American delegation was personally greeted by the special envoy of the Russian president Kirill Dmitriev. According to the world news agency Reuters (reuters.com), Witkoff, Kushner and Dmitriev had a key three-and-a-half-hour working lunch before heading to the Kremlin for the official meeting with Vladimir Putin.
The long-time foreign policy advisor to the Russian leader, Yuri Ushakov, also took part in the negotiations in the Kremlin. This is the sixth meeting between Putin and Trump's team since the start of the US mediation efforts. According to sources at the state-run RIA Novosti news agency (ria.ru), the talks focused on the substance of the US peace plan.
Official statements after the meeting
After the talks in the Kremlin concluded, the two sides made their first official comments reflecting their positions on the proposed peace plan:
- Russia's position (Dmitry Peskov): The Kremlin spokesman told the TASS agency (tass.ru) that Russia remains open to serious and concrete negotiations, but stressed Moscow's intransigence on fundamental issues. "President Putin listened to the American proposals in detail. Russia is ready to consider any plan that leads to real peace, but our basic conditions and goals in terms of security and new territorial realities remain indestructible", Peskov pointed out. [1, 2, 3]
- US position (Steve Witkoff and the White House): The US delegation expressed cautious optimism. White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt said in an official statement, reported by the BBC (bbc.com), that Washington believes a diplomatic breakthrough is possible. Steve Witkoff added: "We had a constructive and frank conversation. We believe that most of the framework of the agreement has been agreed upon and we are working to iron out the final details. We need peace as soon as possible". [1, 2, 3, 4]
Main topics, statements and comments
While full details of the new proposal remain confidential, the main topics discussed include:
- Territorial issues and borders: According to Kremlin statements, Russia's position on control over the annexed regions remains firm. [1, 2]
- Future economic cooperation: Large-scale prospects for economic relations between the United States and Russia in the event of a possible lifting of sanctions were discussed. [1]
- Security guarantees: Washington insists on long-term stability in the region, while Ukraine continues to demand categorical international guarantees against future aggression. [1]
Decisions: Three-day ceasefire
The most important practical result of the shuttle so far is the temporary security agreement reached. On Putin's orders, the Russian army stops all air strikes against Kiev for a period of 72 hours, starting at midnight on September 5. According to a statement by the Kremlin in The New York Times (nytimes.com), this decision is directly related to ensuring security for the next step of the American mission. [1]
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Ukraine would also refrain from attacks on Russian cities during the US diplomatic mission. It is expected that Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will travel directly from Moscow to Kiev tomorrow, Sunday (September 6), where they will present the same peace plan to the Ukrainian leadership.