US President Donald Trump is dispatching envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Moscow and Kyiv as Washington makes a fresh attempt to end more than four years of war in Ukraine.
The mission represents the latest effort by the US to overcome a diplomatic deadlock in Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II, sparked by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
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A senior Ukrainian official told AFP that the envoys were expected in Kyiv tomorrow.
US outlet Axios reported that they would first meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow today before travelling to Kyiv tomorrow for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“The key question is the extent to which the US administration is prepared to invest in finding a real solution to the current crisis, considering the realities on the ground,” Mr Ryabkov told TASS.
Mr Trump said the two negotiators would assess whether there was a realistic path towards peace.
Donald Trump said the envoys are ‘bringing with them a proposal to end the war’
Diplomatic efforts have lost momentum amid Washington’s war with Iran, while Russia and Ukraine have stepped up long-range strikes that have pushed civilian casualties to their highest levels since the fighting began.
He said: “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.
Mr Trump said the envoys were “bringing with them a proposal to end the war”.
The US president declined to say whether the proposal called for Ukraine to surrender territory, as he has suggested previously, but said: “We have an idea for peace.”
The visit will be the first time Mr Witkoff, a businessman and ally of Mr Trump, and Mr Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, have travelled to war-torn Kyiv since Mr Trump returned to office last year promising to resolve the conflict.
Mr Witkoff and Mr Kushner have both taken part in negotiations over ceasefires in Gaza and Iran, and have made several trips to Moscow during earlier diplomatic efforts.
A Russian drone struck the headquarters of Ukraine’s SBU security service in central Kyiv
The renewed diplomatic initiative comes as Russia and Ukraine continue exchanging long-range missile and drone strikes.
Only hours before Mr Trump’s announcement, a Russian drone hit the headquarters of Ukraine’s SBU security service in central Kyiv, according to Mr Zelensky.
The Ukrainian president said the attack targeted the office of the agency’s acting chief and marked the first strike on the headquarters since Russia launched its invasion.
Even after the unprecedented attack, Mr Zelensky proposed a ceasefire for the duration of the US envoys’ visit.
Today, it has been clearly established that U.S. envoys will be in Ukraine and Russia in the coming days. We have the details from the U.S. President’s team. We discussed today that Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will visit Moscow and then Kyiv on Sunday. We are preparing for… pic.twitter.com/MTehI6o2uw
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 4, 2026
“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.
Mr Zelensky had said on Wednesday that Russian airspace would be “completely unsafe” and crowded with Ukrainian drones for as long as Moscow continued its war.
The trip by Mr Witkoff and Mr Kusher comes more than a week after a rare visit to Moscow by CIA director John Ratcliffe, who warned Russia against attacking NATO member states, according to US media.
Earlier this week, the United States welcomed Russia’s finance minister to a G20 gathering in North Carolina.
Local ceasefire for repairs to Zaporizhzhia plant, IAEA says
A local ceasefire brokered by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has taken effect to allow repairs aimed at restoring external power to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the agency said.
The Russian-controlled plant in Ukraine has been cut off from external power since 20 August and has depended on emergency diesel generators to keep its vital safety systems cool.
The facility is running short of diesel fuel and could face a station blackout within days unless power is restored or additional diesel is brought to the site, the UN nuclear watchdog said.
Ukrainian technicians are expected to begin repairing the power lines later today after the area has been demined, it added.
