Witkoff and Kushner to take US peace push to Kyiv after meeting Putin in Moscow

By Tim Lister, Charlotte Reck, Jonny Hallam, and Tim Lister, CNN

(CNN) — US negotiators are set to travel to Kyiv on Sunday after concluding intensive talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, as Washington renews its push to end the war in Ukraine.

US envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner began their whirlwind weekend of diplomacy with a three-hour meeting with Putin at the Kremlin on Saturday afternoon. The negotiations were followed by dinner with the Russian leader, according to a Kremlin press briefing.

The Kremlin released video of Witkoff and Kushner meeting with Putin at the Kremlin on Saturday afternoon.

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov later described the talks as “useful” and said the American representatives had “prepared seriously for this trip.” He said the US team expressed interest in ending hostilities as quickly as possible and offered “a whole series of considerations regarding possible paths to a settlement.”

Ushakov said Witkoff and Kushner had promised to use “the observations and assessments they received personally from the President of Russia,” during talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday.

CNN has reached out to the White House and State Department for details about Saturday’s meeting.

Witkoff and Kushner next are expected to travel to Kyiv on Sunday – their first visit to the Ukrainian capital since the war began.

The US team’s visit to Kyiv comes amid near-constant Russian missile and drone strikes on the Ukrainian capital, including a direct hit on Friday on the headquarters of Ukraine’s Security Service, the SBU.

Zelensky has said that an acute shortage of air defense interceptors has left Ukraine vulnerable to ballistic missile attacks.

Putin said he had ordered a three-day halt to Russian attacks on Kyiv to coincide with the US delegation’s visit to Ukraine but stressed both sides had not agreed to a wider ceasefire.

Zelensky said he had spoken with Witkoff and Kushner on Saturday and that Ukraine was ready to halt strikes on Moscow through Monday.

“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,” Zelensky said in a post on X.

Zelensky also said: “We are waiting for Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and are ready for a substantive conversation.”

At the start of Saturday’s meeting, Putin had acknowledged the difficulty of the talks and asked the US delegation to thank Trump.

“The situation we need to work through today is, of course, not a simple one. But before we begin doing that, I want to ask you to convey my very best wishes, and a word of gratitude, to the President of the United States, Mr. Trump,” Putin said.

Witkoff also struck a warm tone, telling Putin that “when we retire, we’ll have all these incredible stories, and incredible memories, and yours will be right at the top of it all.”

Ushakov and Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian sovereign wealth fund and a Kremlin special envoy, also took part in the talks. After they concluded, Dmitriev hailed the meeting as an “important peacemaking visit” in a post on X.

Strikes on Kyiv region airports

Zelensky said earlier Saturday that Russian missiles had struck two airports near Kyiv, including Boryspil, which handled international flights before the war.

“Evidently, these Russian strikes on airports are a reaction to discussions and preparations regarding the possibility of the American side using an aircraft to arrive in Ukraine,” Zelensky said.

Since the war began, visiting foreign leaders have generally traveled to Kyiv by rail from Poland. It’s unclear whether the reported Russian strikes will alter the US delegation’s plans.

Trump described Witkoff and Kushner as “great negotiators” at the White House on Friday.

“They’re bringing with them a proposal to end the war,” Trump said, adding that “there may be a good chance we will do it.”

The Kremlin sounded less optimistic.

“Yesterday Trump himself said that there’s no talk of new ideas. That was a statement by the US president,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said when asked whether the US mediators were carrying fresh proposals to end the war.

‘Realities on the ground’

Russian officials have indicated that Moscow’s position remains unchanged.

“The US administration must take into account the realities on the ground in the matter of Ukrainian settlement, where the situation is changing not in Kyiv’s favor,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Russian state media TASS.

A string of important industrial towns in the eastern Donetsk region is under growing threat as Russian forces have inched forward in recent months.

Russian strikes continued elsewhere in Ukraine overnight Friday into Saturday, including missile attacks on Black Sea ports and a factory in the central region of Dnipropetrovsk.

Ahead of the US mediators’ visit, Zelensky said Friday:

“Our goal is to have a visit and negotiations with the American side that are as constructive and substantive as possible. We need to look for realistic options on how to bring this war to an end.”

CNN’s Ivana Kottasová, Victoria Butenko, Jennifer Hansler, Kosta Gak and Darya Tarasova contributed reporting.

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