The US is making a fresh attempt to break the diplomatic deadlock over Ukraine, which has lasted for more than four years. US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he had sent envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Moscow and Kyiv with a new proposal to end the war.
The envoys are expected to arrive in Kyiv on Sunday, according to a senior Ukrainian official cited by AFP.
US outlet Axios reported a fuller itinerary, saying the pair would first meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday before holding talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky the following day. The Kremlin has not commented on either report.
Speaking to reporters, Trump described Witkoff and Kushner as "two great negotiators" who had been sent to "see whether or not we can get something done," adding that they were bringing "a proposal to end the war."
Trump on Russia:
— Clash Report (@clashreport) September 4, 2026
Witkoff and Kushner are bringing a proposal to end the war to Moscow. pic.twitter.com/82ZwiiLen9
Pressed on whether the plan involved Ukraine giving up territory, an idea he has raised before, Trump would only say that Washington had "an idea for peace."
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The renewed diplomatic push comes at a difficult moment: Washington's parallel war with Iran has slowed earlier peace efforts, while Russia and Ukraine have escalated long-range missile and drone attacks against each other, pushing civilian casualties to their highest since the invasion began.
Just hours before Trump's announcement, a Russian drone struck the headquarters of Ukraine's SBU security service in central Kyiv, a building Zelensky said had not been hit since the war started in 2022.
Even so, Zelensky used his evening address to propose a mutual pause in strikes for the duration of the envoys' visit. "There will be no airstrikes on our part, and Russia must reciprocally ensure a ceasefire — without its own airstrikes, for the duration needed to conduct these talks," he said.
Moscow did not immediately respond, and Zelensky had warned only days earlier that Russian airspace would stay "completely unsafe" for as long as the war continued.
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Witkoff and Kushner are not new to this brief, having previously worked on ceasefire diplomacy in Gaza and Iran and made repeated trips to Moscow. Sunday's visit, however, will be their first to Kyiv since Trump returned to office.
It also follows a rare Moscow trip last week by CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who is said to have warned Russia against striking any NATO member state, and comes days after Washington hosted Russia's finance minister at a G20 meeting in North Carolina.
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