Russian President Vladimir Putin on the 5th (local time) met Steve Witkoff, special envoy of U.S. President Donald Trump, and Jared Kushner, Trump's eldest son-in-law, and discussed for more than three hours a plan to end the war in Ukraine.
According to Reuters that day, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said at a briefing after the meeting that Envoy Witkoff and Kushner "presented ideas on several ways to reach an agreement."
Ushakov said Putin expressed confidence in achieving his goals, saying in the meeting that Russian forces are making "tangible progress" on the battlefield. Putin also reiterated and explained his standing position that to end the war, "all root causes of the conflict" must be resolved.
The White House also released an official position after the talks ended. In a statement sent to foreign media, a White House official said Envoy Witkoff and Kushner discussed with Putin "a concrete plan for the next steps to be announced in the coming weeks."
It added, "We expect productive discussions at the talks to be held in Ukraine tomorrow." Envoy Witkoff and Kushner left Moscow immediately after their meeting with Putin and are scheduled to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on the 6th.
The U.S. delegation's visit to Kyiv comes as Russia's attacks continue. Russia has continued missile and drone strikes across Ukraine, including Kyiv, and on the 5th even the headquarters of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) was attacked.
Reuters said Ushakov assessed the talks as "very useful," but gave no indication that a breakthrough in negotiations had been achieved. It added that Russia and Ukraine still show a significant gap in positions over plans to end the war.