Christine Drews Sieger
US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner traveled to Kyiv after meeting Vladimir Putin in Moscow to push for a return to trilateral peace talks.
Top US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Kyiv on September 6 by train, UNITED24 Media reports.
Airstrikes blocked direct flights into Ukraine, forcing the diplomats onto the rails from Poland.
Upon arrival at the train station, high-ranking Ukrainian officials were on hand to welcome the envoys—including Kyrylo Budanov from the presidential office, his deputy Serhii Kyslytsia, and lawmaker Davyd Arakhamia.
This landmark trip marked the team’s first official visit to the capital.
US President Donald Trump sent the envoys to reopen frozen communication lines. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio helped dispatch the pair to jumpstart negotiations.
Inside the Kremlin
The Kyiv visit followed an intense session in Moscow just hours earlier. Witkoff and Kushner sat down with Russian President Vladimir Putin for three hours and 10 minutes on September 5 to discuss concrete options for ending the conflict.
The talks covered broad settlement proposals alongside prospective economic cooperation between Washington and Moscow.
Delegates from both sides described the dialogue as direct, in-depth, and exceptionally open.
“Relationships are critical in terms of solving conflicts like this,” Witkoff declared after the meeting.
He noted that he has traveled to Moscow about eight times to meet Putin directly, according to UNITED24 Media.
The trilateral goal
American diplomats now want to bring both sides together in a joint format.
Kushner confirmed that Washington consulted leaders in both capitals about restarting three-party talks.
“One thing Steve and I really thought would be productive is to go back to the trilateral format,” Kushner explained.
“We’ve spoken with both parties, and so hopefully we’ll have progress on that very soon.”
A temporary pause on air strikes protected the envoys during their mission.
A three-day pause in Russian strikes on Kyiv starting September 5 helped safeguard the trip, with Ukraine agreeing to suspend attacks near key negotiation zones in return, UNITED24 Media reports.
No Date for Talks
Despite Washington’s renewed push, the path toward formal peace talks remains uncertain.
Reuters reported that the Kremlin does not rule out restarting trilateral talks involving Russia, Ukraine and the United States following the American envoys’ visits to Moscow and Kyiv.
However, Moscow has yet to commit to a specific date or location, highlighting how much work remains before the separate diplomatic meetings can be transformed into direct negotiations.
For now, the American mission has reopened communication channels — but a formal return to the negotiating table is still far from guaranteed.
