Home · World · Sep 5 archive
Witkoff and Kushner will travel to ‘end’ Russia’s war in Ukraine: Trump
Confirmed
In Short: U.S. President Donald Trump announced that special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are traveling to Kyiv and Moscow this weekend to revive peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced that special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are traveling to Kyiv and Moscow this weekend to revive peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.
The envoys are bringing a proposal to end the conflict, as Trump stated during a White House press conference on Friday.
According to Russian state news agency TASS, Witkoff and Kushner will visit Moscow on Saturday and Sunday, marking their first trip since January.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed the meetings and said Ukraine is preparing for the envoys' visit, as reported by Axios and Euromaidan Press.
These talks follow a pause in negotiations mediated by the Trump administration in mid-February, coinciding with the start of the Iran conflict.
U.S. officials and media outlets including Axios and CBC have reported that the envoys are heading to forge a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
Background
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which borders it to the east and northeast.
What's confirmed
What's still developing
- He said Ukraine would refrain from airstrikes against Russia for the period required for the talks and related logistics, and called on Moscow to provide a reciprocal pause in its air attacks.
- Zelenskyy said Ukraine wants the visit and negotiations to be as constructive and substantive as possible, while acknowledging that the outcome will depend on the proposals Witkoff and Kushner bring and Russia’s response to them.
- Units of Ukraine's army were ordered to halt fighting Sept. 5-8, Ukrainska Pravda reported on Sept. 4, citing sources in the military, as U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are set to visit Kyiv and Moscow over the coming days.
- The rhetoric framing these missions has systematically avoided naming the root cause of Ukraine’s suffering: Vladimir Putin and Russia’s naked imperial aggression.
- Trump, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, said that he had dispatched Witkoff and Kushner to determine whether progress could be made toward a settlement between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
- “We’ll have an idea for peace,” Trump said, while arguing that the Russia-Ukraine conflict had become particularly difficult because of the relationship between the two leaders.
- Previous trips to Russia by Witkoff and Kushner failed to achieve progress and there’s no reason to believe they’re bringing acceptable proposals now, they said.
- Russia nevertheless launched overnight strikes on Ukraine, killing four people and injuring five in Kamianske in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, while Russian drones also struck Kyiv and the surrounding region.