Trump envoys Kushner and Witkoff head to Russia and Ukraine with new plan to end war

US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump is sending envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Moscow and Kyiv this weekend with a new plan to end the war that has been ongoing for more than four years. 

Peace efforts have stalled due to Trump’s war with Iran, while Moscow and Kyiv have intensified long-range missile and drone attacks, driving up civilian casualties to levels not seen since the conflict began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. 

A senior Ukrainian official told AFP the envoys were due in Kyiv on Sunday.

US outlet Axios reported Witkoff and Kushner would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow today, and then President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Sunday. The Kremlin declined to comment.

Trump told reporters that the former real estate investor and his son-in-law would seek to gauge whether progress towards peace was possible.

“I sent Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, two great negotiators. They’ve done a great job, and we sent them over to see whether or not we can get something done. And there may be a good chance that we’ll do it,” he said.

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“They’re bringing with them a proposal to end the war.”

The Republican leader would not say whether the plan involved Ukraine ceding territory as he has previously suggested, but added: “We have an idea for peace.”

It will be the first time that Witkoff and Kushner have visited Kyiv since Trump returned to office last year with a pledge to end the conflict “within 24 hours” of becoming president. 

The pair have travelled repeatedly to Moscow in previous attempts at diplomacy.

Grinding war

The renewed push for diplomacy comes as Russia and Ukraine pummel each other with long-range missile and drone attacks.

Just hours before Trump’s announcement, a Russian drone struck the headquarters of Ukraine’s SBU security service in central Kyiv, according to Zelenskyy.

The strike, which Zelenskyy said was aimed at the office of the agency’s acting chief, was the first on its headquarters since the start of the invasion.

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Despite the unprecedented nature of the strike, the Ukrainian president proposed observing a ceasefire with Russia for the duration of the US envoys’ trip.

“There will be no airstrikes on our part, and Russia must reciprocally ensure a ceasefire – without its own airstrikes – for the duration needed to conduct these talks,” he said in his evening address.

Russia did not immediately comment on the proposal.

Hours later, Oleksandr Ganzha, head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration, said a Russian strike killed four people and wounded five in the southeastern city of Kamianske.

Zelenskyy had said on Wednesday that Russian airspace would be “completely unsafe” and filled with Ukrainian drones as long as Moscow continued its war.

Witkoff and Kushner’s trip comes more than week after a rare visit to Moscow by CIA director John Ratcliffe, who warned Russia against any attack on Nato member states, according to US media.

Earlier this week, the US welcomed the Russian finance minister at a G20 gathering in North Carolina.

With reporting by © AFP 2026