Putin cites chances for peace while keeping territorial demands
US President Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will travel to Moscow on Saturday and Kyiv on Sunday for talks aimed at ending Russia’s war in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed he will meet the envoys on Sunday, marking the first time the Trump administration’s lead negotiators have visited Ukraine.
Witkoff and Kushner — Kushner is Trump’s son-in-law — have visited Russia multiple times, but the planned Kyiv meeting represents the envoys’ first direct engagement with the Ukrainian government on its own territory. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory.
Earlier on Friday, Zelensky said a Russian drone struck the office of Ukraine’s security chief Oleksandr Poklad in Kyiv. Poklad, who heads the SBU security service, appeared to be unharmed. In a post on social media, Zelensky said he had ordered Poklad to respond “adequately” to the attack.
Zelensky said he would guarantee the safety of Russian airspace during the envoys’ visit and called on Russia to do the same for Ukraine. Russia’s state news agency Tass reported that Witkoff and Kushner were “expected to arrive in Moscow and then to Kyiv… on 5-6 September,” citing a source. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later told reporters: “I wouldn’t announce anything, but when these contacts take place, we will inform you.”
At an international economic forum on Thursday, Putin said “there are chances” a peace deal could be reached. “First of all, Moscow and Kyiv must agree between themselves,” he said. But he showed no sign of backing down from his territorial demands, which have included more territorial concessions from Ukraine.
Kyiv and its European allies have repeatedly rejected Putin’s terms as tantamount to capitulation. Witkoff and Kushner have led Trump’s efforts to broker a peace deal, but a gulf remains between the two warring sides.