US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Moscow on Saturday, September 5, to hold talks with Russian officials in a renewed effort to end the war in Ukraine before travelling to Kyiv on Sunday.
The visit came as Russian attacks killed at least five people across Ukraine, according to Ukrainian officials. Ukrainian armed forces were ordered to observe a three-day ceasefire coinciding with the diplomatic mission.
Witkoff and Kushner are expected to meet Russian counterparts before continuing to Ukraine to brief President Volodymyr Zelensky on the outcome of their discussions. The back-to-back format mirrors earlier rounds of shuttle diplomacy conducted by the two envoys.
Washington’s drive to halt the fighting, now in its fifth year, has lost momentum. For roughly the past six months, US attention shifted toward its confrontation with Iran, leaving the Ukraine track largely stalled.
The current push follows a series of earlier attempts to broker terms between the two sides. Previous rounds included US-brokered sessions hosted in Abu Dhabi, which produced no lasting settlement despite continued attacks on Ukrainian territory.
Neither Moscow nor Kyiv has publicly detailed the terms under discussion during the latest visit. Ukrainian officials confirmed the ceasefire order but did not specify whether Russian forces had agreed to reciprocal measures.
The war has continued despite repeated diplomatic overtures and earlier meetings between US and Ukrainian leaders. The scale of casualties on the day of the envoys’ arrival reflected the gap between negotiation efforts and conditions on the ground.
Witkoff and Kushner are scheduled to hold their talks in Kyiv on Sunday, September 6.