Abu Dhabi: US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Moscow on Thursday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as indicated by Russian media reports.
Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev met the two American representatives at Vnukovo Airport, according to the Russian news agency Interfax. Additionally, Russia's state-run TASS news agency confirmed that the convoy carrying Dmitriev, Witkoff, and Kushner left the airport following their touchdown in the Russian capital.
The visit follows Kushner's announcement on Wednesday that he and the West Asia envoy would travel to Moscow after a round of talks in Abu Dhabi aimed at ending the Ukraine war concluded without a clear breakthrough, according to CNN.
"Steve and I are going to travel to Moscow tomorrow to meet with President Putin to go over what was discussed today and to try to make more progress on some of the issues that we discussed because we see some openings and some opportunities there," Kushner said during a news conference in the Emirati capital.
The visit comes after two days of negotiations involving Russian, Ukrainian and American delegations, marking the first direct engagement of this kind since February, as the Trump administration steps up efforts to resolve the nearly five-year conflict.
In recent weeks, US President Donald Trump has announced significant concessions to Moscow, raising concerns across European capitals that Washington could seek to secure an end to the war on terms favourable to the Kremlin, CNN reported.
Kushner said he and Witkoff would focus on finalising humanitarian relief and prisoner exchanges, while also seeking to bring European countries into the talks, a multilateral format that Moscow has consistently resisted.
Although he holds no official position within the Trump administration, Kushner has taken on a prominent diplomatic role. He also confirmed that he and Witkoff would travel to Dublin to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and discuss proposals emerging from the Abu Dhabi talks.
Commenting on Wednesday's talks, which concluded in less than two hours, senior Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky gave little indication that Moscow's position had changed.
"In some areas, we reached a mutual understanding. In others, we did not. This conversation will, without a doubt, continue," Medinsky said.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian negotiators reported progress on certain issues, including security matters. Senior negotiator Rustem Umerov touted progress but cautioned that significant differences remained between the two sides, CNN reported.
European officials were also in the UAE capital this week for separate talks with Ukrainian and American representatives.
Last week, Trump teased a new security deal for Ukraine that could involve European countries, prompting leaders across the continent to reiterate their demand for a greater role in the peace talks.
Speaking at a G7 meeting earlier this week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington wanted to expand future talks to ensure European representatives were included at the main negotiating table, CNN reported.
The diplomatic initiative follows two days of discussions in Abu Dhabi involving Russian and Ukrainian officials, with US representatives mediating.
Axios reported that the meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday marked the first time Russian and Ukrainian officials had met with US mediators since February, when the talks were suspended because of the war in Iran.
The discussions began on Tuesday, with Witkoff, Kushner and US European Command commander General Alexus Grynkewich participating as mediators.
According to Axios, citing a source, the initial exchanges between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations were tense and at times emotional, with both sides airing grievances after nine months without direct talks.
Kushner and Witkoff tried to ease tensions, telling the negotiating teams that the goal was to end the round of discussions with options they could present to the leaders of both countries.
The discussions eventually became more constructive after both sides presented their positions, the source told Axios.
"We had pretty tough discussions," Kushner said at a press conference after the negotiations concluded on Wednesday (local time).
According to Axios, one of the key outcomes of the Abu Dhabi discussions was an agreement on a prisoner exchange, which Kushner and Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia said could be the largest since the beginning of the war.
US and Ukrainian officials told Axios that the exact number of prisoners to be released would be determined during the meetings with Putin and Zelensky on Thursday.
The report further stated that US and Ukrainian negotiating teams briefed senior diplomats from Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, the European Union and NATO before and after the discussions.
The broader European security framework was another major issue during the negotiations. According to Axios, citing two sources familiar with the discussions, Russian negotiators argued that Putin had launched the invasion of Ukraine because then-US President Joe Biden had not responded to a 2021 letter outlining Moscow's security concerns.
In response, Kushner and Witkoff reportedly told the Russian delegation that the international situation had changed significantly since 2021 and urged Moscow to formulate a new security proposal.
According to one of the sources, the US envoys asked Russia to outline not only its security concerns and demands but also the "symmetrical steps" it would be prepared to take to de-escalate tensions and reassure European countries that it would not attack them in the future.
At the Wednesday press conference, Kushner outlined Washington's position on the issue.
"We told the Russians they have their desires and fears, but they have to provide different de-escalation and different proposals as well if they want Europe to be able to receive those proposals in a good way," he said.
