Putin Meets US Envoys in Moscow as Ukraine Peace Push Intensifies

Russian President Vladimir Putin held more than three hours of talks with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on Saturday as Washington stepped up efforts to negotiate an end to the Ukraine war.

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov described the meeting as “highly useful” and said the U.S. representatives presented several ideas for a potential settlement. However, neither side announced a breakthrough or disclosed details of the proposals.

Putin told the envoys that Russian forces were making “real progress” on the battlefield and reiterated Moscow’s position that any peace agreement must address what Russia calls the root causes of the conflict.

A White House official described the discussions as “substantive” and said further steps would be announced in the coming weeks. Witkoff and Kushner left Moscow following the meeting and were expected to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv on Sunday.

Ushakov said the talks also covered economic cooperation and possible major projects between Russia and the United States. Putin praised U.S. President Donald Trump for continuing efforts to resolve the conflict despite the difficulty of reaching an agreement.

Trump said Friday that Washington had a new proposal aimed at ending the war but provided no details.

The diplomatic push comes amid continued Russian and Ukrainian long-range strikes. Russia recently intensified missile and drone attacks on Kyiv, including a strike on the headquarters of Ukraine’s SBU security service. Ukraine, meanwhile, has targeted Russian oil refineries, terminals and other infrastructure.

Despite renewed diplomacy, Russia and Ukraine remain deeply divided over the terms of a peace settlement. A person close to the Kremlin said Putin remained focused on capturing additional territory, particularly the remaining Ukrainian-held areas of the Donetsk region.

Western military analysts have questioned whether Russia can achieve that objective quickly given the slow pace of battlefield advances.

Ukraine has repeatedly rejected demands to surrender territory. Moscow, meanwhile, said Friday that Putin’s longstanding conditions remain unchanged, including demands that Ukraine cede the entirety of four regions claimed by Russia and abandon its ambition to join NATO.

The gap between the two sides leaves significant obstacles to any U.S.-brokered Russia-Ukraine peace agreement despite the latest round of negotiations.