Trump Envoys Witkoff and Kushner Arrive in Ukraine for First-Ever Kyiv Visit. Trip Follows Putin Talks in Moscow

US President Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Ukraine on September 6 for their first visit to the country. One day earlier, they held more than three hours of talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

According to a UNITED24 Media correspondent in Kyiv, the US delegation arrived by train and was met at the railway station by senior Ukrainian officials, including Head of the Presidential Office Kyrylo Budanov, his deputy Serhii Kyslytsia, and parliamentary faction leader Davyd Arakhamia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with his negotiating team ahead of talks with the US delegation, saying Kyiv had prepared its own proposals concerning an end to Russia’s war against Ukraine.

“We are ready for the conversation. Ukraine has always been and will remain constructive. We are interested in bringing the end of the war closer. Peace is needed. Security guarantees are needed. A dignified nature of the post-war peace is needed. Our proposals have been prepared. It is important to work in a coordinated, substantive, and realistic manner,” Zelenskyy said.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Zelenskyy also said Ukraine had prepared its airports to receive Witkoff and Kushner by air, but Russian strikes prevented the delegation from flying directly into the country.

“Unfortunately, the Russians demonstrated with their strikes that they [Witkoff and Kushner] cannot land [in Ukraine], use an aircraft, although we prepared everything, our airports are operating,” Zelenskyy said, according to a UNITED24 Media correspondent.

The envoys instead traveled to Ukraine by train after their aircraft departed Moscow and landed in Poland.

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War in Ukraine

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The Kyiv visit follows Witkoff and Kushner’s September 5 meeting with Putin in Moscow, which lasted three hours and 10 minutes and focused primarily on possible approaches to ending Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Reuters, citing a White House official, described the Moscow talks as “substantive” and reported that further information on the next steps would be announced in the coming weeks.

Putin aide Yuri Ushakov separately described the meeting as “substantive, constructive, and extremely frank.” He said the US delegation had brought a number of proposals concerning a potential settlement and would take Moscow’s position into account during subsequent contacts in Kyiv.

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