Trump envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner spent over three hours with Putin in Moscow without a breakthrough, then arrived in Kyiv on Sunday to meet Zelensky.
US President Donald Trump's special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner spent more than three hours at the Kremlin on Saturday, September 5, discussing a possible settlement of the war with Vladimir Putin. No breakthrough was reported afterward: both sides called the talks substantive, but significant differences over territory and the terms for ending the war remain unresolved. Volunteers Support Ukraine follows these diplomatic efforts closely, aware that they will shape when Ukrainians can finally live without the daily threat of strikes.
According to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, Putin expressed confidence in Russia's progress on the battlefield and stressed the need to address the "root causes" of the conflict — language Moscow routinely uses to press for restrictions on Ukraine's sovereignty and its ties to NATO. The American side described the talks as substantive and useful but announced no concrete agreement.
On Sunday, September 6, Witkoff and Kushner arrived in Kyiv to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Ukraine's stated goal for the meeting is talks "as constructive and substantive as possible" — Kyiv wants to hear exactly what the American envoys are proposing and how Moscow has responded before weighing realistic options for ending the war.
Ahead of the visit, the two sides agreed to a narrow, temporary pause: Putin ordered a three-day halt to strikes on Kyiv, while Zelensky said Ukraine was ready to refrain from hitting Moscow through Monday. This was not a broader front-line ceasefire but a limited arrangement tied specifically to the American delegation's trip — and the very next night, Russia resumed massed attacks against other regions of Ukraine.
Meetings like this are more than a headline — each one is a small chance to move the day closer when missiles and drones stop falling on Ukrainian cities. Volunteers Support Ukraine continues helping people affected by the war while the search for a path to peace continues, and hopes these diplomatic efforts eventually bring real relief to millions of Ukrainians.
