Kremlin Calls Talks With U.S. Envoys 'Useful,' but No Breakthrough Reported
Putin met U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner for over three hours to discuss ending the Ukraine war, but the Kremlin gave no sign of a breakthrough. Russia and Ukraine remain far apart on core conditions for a settlement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin spent more than three hours in talks on Saturday with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, their first visit to Moscow since January. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov described the meeting as "highly useful" but offered no details suggesting a breakthrough. He said the Americans had presented several ideas on possible paths to a settlement, without disclosing specifics.
According to Ushakov, Putin told the envoys that Russia was making "real progress" on the battlefield and remained confident of reaching its goals, while insisting on addressing "all the root causes of the conflict" — a phrase Moscow has repeated since launching its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Ushakov added that economic matters and potential large joint Russian-American projects were also discussed in detail.
A White House official called the talks "substantive," saying next steps would be announced in coming weeks. Witkoff and Kushner flew out of Moscow shortly afterward and are due to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv on Sunday. Putin praised President Trump's efforts to broker a settlement despite the difficulty of the task. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had ordered a three-day halt to strikes on Kyiv because of the envoys' visit, while Zelenskiy said Ukraine would refrain from striking Moscow through Monday.
Positions remain far apart
Over the past ten days, Russia intensified strikes on Kyiv, including a Friday attack on the headquarters of Ukraine's SBU security service. Ukraine, meanwhile, has spent the summer hitting Russian refineries, oil terminals and warehouses to raise the cost of the war for Moscow. A person close to the Kremlin said Putin still intends to seize more territory, believing full control of the Donetsk region is achievable by year's end — an assessment Western military analysts consider unlikely given Russia's slow advances. Ukraine continues to reject ceding territory it has defended. The Kremlin reiterated Friday that Putin's demand for Ukraine to surrender four claimed regions and abandon NATO membership plans remains "unshakeable."
