Putin begins talks with US envoys on Ukraine war

Vladimir Putin received US President Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in the Kremlin as new talks on the war in Ukraine began in Moscow.

Russian state media reported that Putin told the envoys they were not holding ordinary talks and sent his best wishes to Trump. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the meeting only after Witkoff and Kushner arrived in Moscow. He said they had brought new proposals but gave no details, adding that the Kremlin planned to brief the public after the talks.

Putin ordered a three-day ceasefire for Kyiv to enable the two envoys, who have already held several meetings in Russia, to visit the Ukrainian capital for the first time. Zelenskyy reaffirmed that he expected them in Kyiv on Sunday and said the pause was already in effect from Ukraine’s perspective. He expressed hope that Putin would also honor his announcement.

The Russian leader spent much of the day before the meeting attending other events. He opened a new Moscow metro line and a large oil terminal and pipeline in Siberia by video link. He also met senior candidates from the Kremlin-backed United Russia party ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for Sept. 18 to 20.

Earlier discussions between Putin and Trump’s envoys helped lead to direct Russian-Ukrainian negotiations, but those talks first stalled and then stopped. Witkoff and Kushner had spent much of the previous months focused on Trump’s war with Iran. Because Russia supports Iran in that conflict, Kremlin-aligned experts speculated that the envoys might also raise Iran during the Moscow meeting.