US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow on Thursday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, carrying the outcome of two days of US-mediated negotiations in Abu Dhabi in the latest American push to end the war in Ukraine.
The Kremlin talks, expected to take place in the first half of the day, will be the tenth time Witkoff has met Putin in person. Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s special envoy, met the two Americans off their plane in wet snow and accompanied them into central Moscow.
The Abu Dhabi talks, which ended on Wednesday, were the first direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine mediated by the United States in nine months. They produced agreement on another major prisoner exchange — reported to be the largest of the war — but no public breakthrough on the wider issues, with the American side saying differences remained, above all on territory.
Kushner said on Wednesday that he and Witkoff saw “some openings and some opportunities” in Abu Dhabi and would discuss them with Putin. The envoys are also expected to press Moscow to let European governments join the talks — Kushner has said they must be at the table — and to raise a proposed new security framework between Russia and Europe, according to Axios.
Kyiv has strongly rejected Putin’s demand that Ukraine surrender the whole of the eastern Donbas region in return for peace. With the talks deadlocked on land, US mediators have tried to steer discussion towards postwar security guarantees and reconstruction. A senior Russian diplomat said on Wednesday that Moscow could conclude non-aggression pacts with NATO member states as part of a new European security architecture, though many European politicians say they oppose any discussion of Europe’s overall security before real progress on Ukraine, including a ceasefire.
The envoys plan to fly on to Ireland on Thursday evening to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who is attending a meeting of European leaders in Dublin. Zelenskiy said there was “hope” after the Abu Dhabi round.
The diplomacy unfolded against continued fighting. Russia and Ukraine exchanged attacks on each other’s capitals early on Thursday, with explosions heard in Kyiv and Moscow’s mayor saying five drones heading for the capital had been shot down.
Sources: Reuters, “US envoys arrive in Moscow for latest round of Ukrainian peace talks with Putin”, https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/us-envoys-arrive-moscow-latest-round-ukrainian-peace-talks-with-putin-2026-11-12/; Reuters, “Russia, Ukraine exchange attacks on capitals as US envoys head for Moscow”, https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-ukraine-exchange-attacks-capitals-us-envoys-head-moscow-2026-11-12/; Axios, as reported by The Tribune, https://thetribune-sortd-pro.demo.sortd.mobi/news/world/trump-envoys-to-meet-putin-as-us-pushes-ukraine-peace-deal-new-europe-russia-security-framework-reports-axios/
