US Envoys Meet Putin for 3 Hours, Head to Kyiv With Ukraine Peace Proposal

3 articles · Updated · Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty · Sep 5

Three hours of Kremlin talks ended late September 5 with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner leaving Moscow for Kyiv, where Volodymyr Zelenskyy has approved a September 6 diplomatic schedule with the US team.
Yury Ushakov called the Putin meeting substantive and said the envoys would carry Russia's views to Kyiv after presenting US ideas for a settlement; there was no immediate official US readout.
Donald Trump said the pair were carrying a proposal to end the war, now in its fifth year, as Washington tries to revive diplomacy that had largely stalled since the US-Israeli war with Iran began in February.
Kyiv has tied the visit to temporary de-escalation: Zelenskyy said Ukraine would refrain from strikes on Moscow through Monday, and the Kremlin said Putin ordered a halt to strikes on Kyiv from September 6-8.
The trip still faces deep obstacles, with Moscow insisting on addressing the conflict's 'root causes'—including demands Kyiv rejects on NATO and its military—even as Russian attacks recently hit Kyiv airports and the SBU headquarters.