Senior officials from former President Donald Trump’s team – real‑estate developer Steve Witkoff and former White House adviser Jared Kushner – held a three‑hour meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Tuesday before heading to Kyiv to discuss a possible cease‑fire with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Moscow Meeting
According to the New York Times, President Putin ordered a pause in air strikes on Kyiv ahead of the meeting, a move described by France 24 as “a bad sign” if interpreted as a diplomatic concession. The White House described the talks as “substantive” and said they covered “next steps” for ending the war, with “substantive plans” to be announced in the coming weeks.
“Substantive plans will be announced in the coming weeks,” the White House said, referring to the discussion with President Putin.
The meeting was reported by multiple outlets, including the BBC and The Guardian, as the first time the two Trump envoys have travelled to Kyiv, and the first high‑level US‑Russia engagement on Ukraine since the war began in February 2022.
From Moscow to Kyiv
After leaving the Kremlin, Witkoff and Kushner flew directly to Kyiv, where they are scheduled to meet President Zelenskyy, according to the Associated Press. The purpose of the Kyiv visit, as outlined by the White House, is to discuss the “next steps” outlined in Moscow and to gauge Ukraine’s response to any potential cease‑fire framework.
Ukrainian officials have not publicly detailed the agenda of the upcoming talks, but the Washington Post noted that the envoys are expected to present the “substantive plans” discussed with Putin and seek Kyiv’s input on any diplomatic pathway forward.
Reactions and Outlook
The Kremlin described the talks as “useful” but emphasized that they did not constitute a breakthrough, as reported by Reuters. Russian officials also highlighted that the pause in strikes was a temporary tactical decision, not a strategic shift.
U.S. officials, while optimistic about the “substantive” nature of the Moscow meeting, cautioned that any peace proposal would need to be acceptable to Kyiv and its allies. Axios and Al Jazeera both noted that the Trump administration is seeking to revive stalled peace negotiations that have been dominated by Western diplomatic channels.
Analysts cited by Time and Euronews see the rapid succession of meetings – Moscow followed by Kyiv – as an attempt by the Trump team to create a “track‑two” diplomatic channel that could complement official State Department efforts. However, they also warned that without clear concessions from Moscow, the talks risk stalling again.
In the weeks ahead, the White House said it will announce the details of the “substantive plans” discussed in Moscow, while Ukrainian officials are expected to signal whether they find the proposals viable. The outcome of this diplomatic overture could shape the next phase of the conflict, which has already entered its fifth year.
