Witkoff and Kushner Meet Putin in Moscow to Revive Ukraine Peace Talks

US special envoy Steve Witkoff and presidential adviser Jared Kushner met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin for more than three hours on Saturday afternoon, September 5, 2026, followed by dinner, in an effort to revive the stalled push to end the nearly five-year Russia-Ukraine war after months in which momentum had been overtaken by the Iran conflict. A Kremlin aide described the talks as 'very frank and constructive'; no breakthrough or ceasefire was announced, though Russia and Ukraine both agreed to hold off on aerial strikes on each other's capitals to allow the envoys' weekend shuttle diplomacy. Witkoff and Kushner traveled on to Kyiv afterward to present the same proposal to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.