Putin Holds More Than 3-Hour Talks With US Envoys, but No Breakthrough on Ending Ukraine War

Russian President Vladimir Putin met for more than three hours with US negotiating representatives to discuss ways to end the war in Ukraine. Russia described the talks as useful, but no concrete agreement or breakthrough was disclosed.

Reuters reported on September 5 that Putin met at the Kremlin in Moscow with Steve Witkoff, a special envoy of US President Donald Trump, and Jared Kushner, Trump's eldest son-in-law. It was the first visit to Moscow by the two men since January.

Yuri Ushakov, the Kremlin's foreign policy aide, said the US side presented several proposals for resolving the conflict. He described the talks as timely and highly useful for both sides, but did not disclose details of the proposals.

Putin stressed that Russian forces were making tangible gains on the front line and that he was confident of achieving their objectives, according to the report. He also repeated Moscow's longstanding position that ending the war would require addressing what Russia calls the root causes of the conflict.

The gap between the two sides remains wide over Ukrainian territory and Kyiv's bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO. Russia continues to insist that Ukraine cede all of the four regions Moscow says it annexed and abandon its NATO ambitions. Ukraine has rejected those terms, saying they amount to a demand for surrender.

Before the meeting, Putin expressed gratitude for Trump's mediation efforts. He said Trump had not stopped trying to resolve the conflict even though he knew he was stepping into a difficult situation. Trump had said earlier that the US had prepared a new proposal to end the war, but did not disclose details.

The talks covered not only Ukraine, but also potential large-scale economic cooperation projects that Russia and the US could pursue. Kirill Dmitriev, Putin's special envoy for investment and economic cooperation, described the visit afterward as an important peace mediation effort.

Putin ordered Russian forces to halt attacks on Kyiv for three days to ensure the safe travel of the US delegation. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy also said he was prepared not to attack Moscow through September 7. Witkoff and Kushner left Moscow immediately after the meeting and are scheduled to meet Zelenskiy in Kyiv on September 6.