American special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner completed a two-capital diplomatic mission this week, holding talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow before travelling by train to Kyiv the following day to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. A senior Ukrainian presidential official told reporters that the Americans had brought new, "more effective" proposals for ending the war, according to Darik News. The same official added: "This time it is not the same as before. Now it is more effective. They are still talking. That is actually what matters most."
Neither side announced a breakthrough. Zelensky said publicly that the war looks increasingly likely to continue through the winter, while also thanking the envoys and writing on X that Ukraine's goal remains "dignified, reliable and lasting peace," as reported by Darik News. The Ukrainian railway operator marked the envoys' departure by posting a photo of the pair standing beneath a station sign reading "Train of Peace."
Three hours in the Kremlin
Witkoff and Kushner spent more than three hours with Putin in Moscow, according to Mediapool. Putin told the envoys that the situation is "certainly difficult" but that it must be dealt with, and he described cooperation with the American side as operating at a "high level of trust," Standart reports. Putin's adviser Yuri Ushakov described the talks as substantive and candid, but acknowledged that no concrete agreement had been reached.
A limited, informal air-strike pause accompanied the visit. Putin confirmed that Russian forces had not struck Kyiv from midnight on September 5, while Zelensky pledged that Ukraine would hold back from striking Moscow through the end of Monday, Standart reports. Putin noted that Moscow had never formally agreed to the broader three-day ceasefire that Kyiv had called for publicly.
