Kremlin calls meeting with Trump envoys “useful” but reports no sign of progress

The Kremlin described Vladimir Putin’s meeting with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner as “extremely important” and “extremely useful,” but offered no concrete sign that the talks had advanced a settlement to the war in Ukraine.

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extremely important

The meeting lasted more than three hours on Sept. 5. Putin’s adviser Yuri Ushakov said the American representatives presented several ideas for possible ways to end the war, without disclosing their content. He said Putin also briefed them on what he described as the Russian army’s “successes on the front” and repeated Moscow’s position that ending the war requires “eliminating all the root causes of the conflict.”

Ushakov said the discussions went beyond the war itself and included economic issues and possible large-scale Russian-American projects that could benefit both sides. Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s investment adviser, called the visit an “important peace mission.” Witkoff and Kushner made no statement after the meeting and left Moscow quickly.

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successes on the front

The two envoys were expected in Kyiv on Sept. 6 for a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Reuters reported that Putin praised Donald Trump’s efforts to end the war in a televised message at the start of the meeting. Trump had said the previous day that Washington had prepared a new proposal, without revealing its contents.

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eliminating all the root causes of the conflict

Putin said the envoys’ safety would be guaranteed. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had earlier said the Russian leader ordered the military not to strike Kyiv for three days because of their arrival. The article also said Russia and Ukraine had intensified long-range air attacks in recent weeks.

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important peace mission