WASHINGTON — President Trump’s special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had a “constructive and substantive discussion” about ending the Ukraine war with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, a US official said Thursday.
Witkoff and Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, are expected to brief Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Dublin after departing the Russian capital.
Witkoff and Kushner are attempting to build upon recent trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi in their latest round of shuttle diplomacy — after prior back-to-back talks with Putin and Zelensky in September and a followup meeting between Witkoff and Putin in October in St. Petersburg.
The talks in the UAE culminated in an agreement by the warring nations to conduct a large prisoner exchange.
Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and has demanded the full surrender of certain territories — with the most focus on the northern part of Donetsk province — as a condition to end the largest land war in Europe since World War II.
Zelensky has balked at surrendering heavily fortified frontlines, expressing concern that Putin, who has dismissed the concept of Ukrainian nationhood, would launch a future assault.
The latest discussions between Putin and the US envoys “focused on potential pathways to ending the war, addressing the security concerns of both sides, and establishing the conditions for a durable peace,” the US official said.
“We will continue our consultations with Ukraine and European partners as we work to advance these efforts.”
The official said Witkoff and Kushner “invited Russia to provide its perspective on what a stable postwar security environment should look like, including its concerns and potential proposals.”
“This was an effort to understand both sides’ positions and identify possible areas of common ground, not a request for Russia to draft a new European security architecture,” the person said.
“Any broader security arrangements would be developed in close consultation and partnership with Ukraine and our European allies, building on existing institutions and respecting the sovereignty and independent decision-making of all nations.”