On September 5th, local time, Russian President Putin met with the U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Wittkowitz and Jared Kushner at the Kremlin. Both sides held closed-door talks regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the peace proposal put forth by the United States.
This is the first visit by senior American representatives to Russia since January this year, and it is also the latest diplomatic move by the Trump administration to resume negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. Just before the talks, Putin ordered Russian forces to cease attacking Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, starting at 0:00 on September 5, for a period of 72 hours. The Kremlin stated that this move was to ensure the safety of the American delegation during their subsequent visit to Kyiv.
According to The New York Times, footage released by the Russian President's Information Service shows Putin personally greeting Vitalkov and Kushner at the Kremlin, saying, "The situation we face today is certainly not simple."
Putin Welcomes Vitkov and Kusner, Russian News Agency
Subsequently, Putin also specifically mentioned Trump, expressing his hope that the two envoys would convey his "sincere wishes and gratitude to President Trump of the United States."
On that day, which was Moscow’s ‘City Day’, Kuchina greeted Putin in Russian: ‘Happy holiday.’
According to RT, the talks lasted for about 3 hours. In addition to Putin, other high-ranking Russian officials including President's Assistant Ushakov and the president of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Demidiev, also attended. Both sides focused on discussing the American proposals for resolving the conflict, as well as issues related to Russia-US relations. However, no specific details were disclosed regarding the proposed solutions.
It is worth noting that, after the meeting, neither the Russian nor the American side issued any joint statements or public outcome documents. Trump's two envoys also did not give media interviews after leaving the Kremlin. Both sides exercised great restraint regarding the content of the talks, and only officials from the Kremlin provided brief explanations to the media.
Russian President's Assistant Ushakov later told reporters that the talks were "rich in content, constructive, extremely straightforward, and based on mutual trust." The US representatives proposed a series of ideas for peaceful resolution to the conflict, and both sides had in-depth discussions. However, he did not disclose the specific details. Dmitriev, on social media platforms, described this visit as "an important peace mediation mission."
Russian President's Press Office video screenshot
However, the resumption of diplomatic talks does not mean that the situation on the battlefield will cool down simultaneously. Although Putin ordered a suspension of attacks against Kiev for the next 72 hours, before this arrangement took effect, new rounds of intense confrontations occurred between Russia and Ukraine.
The Russian side emphasized that the suspension of strikes is limited to Kiev, and the aim is to create conditions for a subsequent meeting between the US delegation and the Ukrainian side. This does not mean that Russian military actions in other parts of Ukraine have ceased. Just hours before the ceasefire order took effect, Ukraine suffered a large-scale air strike. The Ukrainian side reported that Russia launched ballistic missiles and deployed over 160 attack drones. Two major airports in Kiev were attacked, and many infrastructure facilities were damaged. Zelenskyy stated that these attacks are Russia's response to the US's plans to travel to Ukraine by plane.
Later that day, Zelenskyy revealed that he had spoken with Vitkov and Kushner in Moscow. Ukraine will also take reciprocal measures, suspending attacks against Moscow until Monday, in order to coordinate with the US diplomatic efforts.
After this trip to Moscow, Vitkovskiy and Kushner are expected to go to Kyiv on the 6th to hold talks with Zelenskyy. This will be the first visit by both to Ukraine since Trump returned to the White House, and it is an important step in the United States' efforts to mediate between Russia and Ukraine.
However, despite the resumption of face-to-face communication between the US and Russian leaders, there are still significant differences on the terms of the ceasefire. Peskov recently reiterated that Russia insists on Ukrainian troops withdrawing from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and addressing the "root causes" of the conflict as a prerequisite for achieving a ceasefire; Ukraine has consistently refused to accept any proposal involving territorial concessions.
Western military analysts believe that the biggest achievement of these talks was the restoration of direct communication between the United States and Russia, and the facilitation of a rare simultaneous suspension of attacks on both capitals by Russia and Ukraine. However, there is still a significant distance to go before reaching a true ceasefire agreement on core issues such as territorial rights and security arrangements.
