What Was Discussed in Moscow and Kyiv With the Americans? Will the War in Ukraine Continue?

The real stake in peace for Ukraine is not simply where the front line will be drawn. It is whether negotiators can build a security architecture strong enough to stop Russia from using a temporary truce to prepare for the next war.

On Sept. 5, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner landed at Vnukovo-2 in the morning but did not reach the Kremlin until around 8 p.m. The hours in between, the article argues, were filled not by diplomacy but by a calculated absence of it. Vladimir Putin did not receive the Americans himself. Instead, he left Kirill Dmitriev at the airport as an informal bridge between the Kremlin and Donald Trump's circle.

Dmitriev's greeting, "Welcome to Moscow Peacemakers," established a cordial tone, but one managed by someone other than the host. Putin continued ceremonies marking Moscow's anniversary rather than rearranging his schedule for the American envoys. Their three to six hours in the city and at the Avrora restaurant, under Dmitriev's constant escort, brought them close to the corridors of power without giving them direct access to it.

Once they entered the Kremlin, the atmosphere shifted. Institutional distance gave way to an almost personal cordiality, and the meeting lasted more than three hours, ending after midnight. The article says it cannot prove an intention to humiliate the Americans, but it sees a clear protocol effect: Putin decided when the clock started, kept his own schedule and controlled the day's public images before negotiations had even begun.

Kyiv reversed that choreography the next day. Russian attacks forced Witkoff and Kushner to arrive by train, a symbolic entry into a country at war. A senior Ukrainian delegation met them, and Zelenskyy welcomed them publicly in Sofia Square with an embrace and the words, "It's good to see you, Steve." The presence of French, British and German representatives completed the image of a Western camp gathered around Kyiv. The article reduces the contrast to one line: Putin controlled the clock, while Zelenskyy controlled the setting.

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It's good to see you, Steve.