Trump’s Envoys Leave Putin Talks Without a Breakthrough as Ukraine Offers Airstrike Pause
Witkoff and Kushner move from Kremlin talks to Kyiv as Ukraine and Russia pause airstrikes around the diplomatic mission
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with Vladimir Putin behind closed doors at the Kremlin for more than three hours on Saturday before preparing to travel to Kyiv on Sunday, stepping into a combat theater where Russian drones had targeted Ukraine’s Security Service headquarters as the two sides arranged a temporary airspace pause for their diplomatic sprint. There were no breakthroughs.
Before the Moscow discussions were fully detailed, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine would keep Russian airspace safe during the Americans’ visit and refrain from strikes on Moscow from Saturday through Monday, while expecting Russia to avoid airstrikes on Kyiv. The pause was intended to secure the physical path for Trump’s envoys and allow the meetings to proceed.
A White House official confirmed that Witkoff and Kushner met with Putin to advance President Trump’s peace agenda and said officials from the National Security Council, State Department and Treasury Department joined the discussions. The official also thanked Putin for releasing former U.S. Marine Robert Gilman as a gesture of respect toward Trump. Gilman was arrested in Russia in 2022 for assaulting a police officer while intoxicated and was later sentenced to prison. In 2024, he received additional prison time for assaulting a prison inspector and an investigator. His release was timed with the arrival of Trump’s personal emissaries and served as a notable diplomatic concession before the negotiations moved to Kyiv.
The White House said the two sides discussed substantive plans for next steps and expected equally productive meetings in Ukraine. Trump had described the mission more informally on Friday, calling Witkoff and Kushner “two great negotiators” who had done a great job and saying there might be a good chance of reaching an agreement. The official delegation represented Washington’s institutional machinery, while Trump’s remarks emphasized the personal diplomacy of his trusted emissaries.
The diplomatic effort was accompanied by a Russian drone strike on the SBU headquarters in Kyiv. Moscow’s broader, intensifying campaign against command structures in the Ukrainian capital has used advanced precision drones to pressure and destabilize Ukrainian intelligence operations ahead of expected winter peace negotiations. While Zelenskyy was publicly preparing an airspace arrangement on X to protect the envoys’ route, he wrote on Telegram that he had ordered SBU chief Oleksandr Poklad to prepare a response that would mirror the attack. Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s military would support the retaliation. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said at least nine people were injured in the explosion.
Kirill Dmitriev, Russia’s presidential envoy, greeted Witkoff and Kushner after they landed at Vnukovo International Airport in Moscow. On Saturday morning, Zelenskyy said he had already spoken with the Americans ahead of their planned face-to-face meeting in Kyiv and that Ukraine was ready for a substantive conversation. He also received front-line and airspace briefings from Defense Minister Yevhenii Khmara and Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Mykhailo Drapatyi while approving the next day’s diplomatic schedule.
The mission also unfolded as Germany accused Russia of attempting an explosive drone attack on a major airport in Leipzig. “The attack on the aircraft in Leipzig was concrete; it could have triggered a catastrophe had it succeeded,” Stefan Kornelius, a spokesperson for the German federal government, wrote Friday. “The German government has named Russia as the mastermind. Patterns of attack, police investigations, and intelligence findings prove Russian responsibility for the drone attack.”
The White House said the discussions covered substantive plans for next steps that will be announced in the coming weeks and that the American delegation looked forward to the Kyiv meetings. Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign policy adviser, called the Moscow talks constructive, frank and useful.
