Steve Witkoff, described as a special envoy for former President Donald Trump, will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Tuesday, and will be accompanied by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. The delegation aims to discuss possible ways to end the war in Ukraine, the deadliest European conflict since World War II.
Trump has repeatedly expressed a desire to end the fighting, but previous U.S. efforts — including a summit between Trump and Putin in Alaska in August — have not produced a peace agreement. Last week a leaked set of 28 U.S. draft peace proposals alarmed Ukrainian and many European officials, who said the draft appeared to concede several core Russian demands, such as limits on NATO, Russian control over roughly a fifth of Ukraine, and restrictions on Ukraine’s military. European governments responded with their own counter-proposal, and at talks in Geneva the U.S. and Ukraine said they had produced an “updated and refined peace framework.”
Kremlin officials have stressed that the documents so far are proposals rather than binding agreements. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Witkoff’s meeting with Putin would take place in the second half of Tuesday but declined to specify Russia’s red lines. A White House official confirmed Kushner would join the trip.
Putin has signaled a willingness to negotiate but warned that if Ukraine rejects Russian terms, Moscow’s forces will continue offensive operations and seize more territory. Russian forces now control more than 19 percent of Ukraine — about 115,600 square kilometres — up roughly one percentage point from two years earlier. Pro‑Ukrainian maps indicate Russia advanced in 2025 at its fastest pace since 2022. Russian commanders told Putin they had captured the frontline towns of Pokrovsk and Vovchansk. U.S. officials estimate more than 1.2 million people have been killed or injured in the war; neither Ukraine nor Russia publishes comprehensive casualty totals.
Since the leak of the U.S. draft, European powers have worked to bolster support for Ukraine against what they view as a punitive, pro‑Russian settlement. Critics say some draft terms could open Russia to new investment in oil, gas and rare earths and help restore Moscow’s standing in forums such as the G8. Reports say Moscow’s key demands include a pledge that Ukraine never join NATO, caps on the Ukrainian armed forces, Russian control of the whole of Donbas, formal recognition of Russian control over Crimea, Donbas, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, and protections for Russian speakers and Russian Orthodox believers in Ukraine.
Ukraine says such terms would amount to capitulation and leave it vulnerable to further conquest. U.S. proposals have reportedly included a 10‑year security guarantee for Kyiv. Ahead of the Moscow trip, Witkoff, Kushner and Senator Marco Rubio met Rustem Umerov, secretary of Ukraine’s national security council, at Witkoff’s Shell Bay club near Miami. After talks in Paris, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy posted on X: “We share the view that the war must be brought to a fair end.”
The current conflict stems from long‑running tensions that escalated in 2014, when a pro‑Russian Ukrainian president was ousted, Russia annexed Crimea and Russian‑backed separatists began fighting Ukrainian forces in the east. Russia then launched a large‑scale invasion in February 2022.
