US envoys head to Kyiv for first-ever visit after talks with Putin

United States envoys proposed a “number of ideas” on how to end the Ukraine war in talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin late Saturday, according to Russian authorities ahead of the envoys’ first trip to Kyiv.

US President Trump’s business partner Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner met Putin for more than three hours, as Washington tries to revive negotiations to end Europe’s worst conflict since World War II. Their visit to Moscow comes after the war — which has killed hundreds of thousands and forced millions to flee their homes — escalated this summer. It also follows a visit last month to Moscow by the director of the CIA.

The Russian side told the Americans that Moscow was “confident” it could achieve its military goals of seizing the rest of eastern Ukraine. Both Russia and Ukraine have vowed not to strike each other’s capitals for three days to allow for the negotiations to take place. In televised comments before the talks, Putin also said Russia would ensure the safety of the envoys in Kyiv — a city Moscow has pounded with deadly strikes throughout the war.

Earlier Saturday, however, Russia struck Kyiv’s suburbs and the Dnipro region, where local officials said five people had been killed. Zelenskyy subsequently accused Moscow of trying to disrupt the visit of the US envoys with overnight attacks on Kyiv’s two airports — as well as on civilian targets.