Trump envoy to hold Kremlin talks as US pushes for Ukraine peace deal

Donald Trump’s overseas envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Moscow next week for talks at the Kremlin, a visit confirmed on Wednesday by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov.

The move comes as Washington intensifies efforts to secure a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine, following signals from Kyiv that it had reached a “common understanding” with the US on the outline of a potential plan.

The development follows Trump’s announcement on Tuesday that he has tasked Witkoff with meeting Putin, while US Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll is being dispatched to Ukraine. The White House has been attempting to refine a leaked 28-point draft proposal, which Trump said had been “fine-tuned, with additional input from both sides”.

Trump added that son-in-law Jared Kushner, a familiar figure in past diplomatic efforts, may also join the Kremlin meeting. The US president has framed land concessions “both ways” and is “trying to clean up the border” as elements of a potential agreement, though he insisted there was “no deadline” to conclude a deal, saying “the deadline for me is when it’s over”.

The Kremlin, meanwhile, has warned that Moscow has not yet been briefed on the revised proposal. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said though Moscow viewed the initial US framework positively, the situation would be “fundamentally different” if the new draft diverged substantially. As of Tuesday morning, Russia had not received the updated text, Lavrov said, while accusing European leaders of undermining US-led diplomacy.

Behind the scenes, Driscoll met Russian officials in Abu Dhabi this week. Yet several major issues remain unresolved, including security guarantees for Ukraine and the status of contested regions in eastern and southern Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signalled readiness to meet Trump to address “sensitive points”, saying, “Much depends on America, because Russia pays the greatest attention to American strength.” He also said the 28-point draft had been slimmed down, removing several earlier provisions. Trump later wrote he looked forward to meeting both Zelensky and Putin “soon, but ONLY when the deal to end this War is FINAL or, in its final stages”.

European leaders, however, remain sceptical. French President Emmanuel Macron said he saw “no Russian will for a ceasefire”, while British officials warned of “a long way to go — a tough road ahead”.

On Tuesday, Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer chaired a meeting of the “coalition of the willing” — a loose group of Ukraine’s key allies committed to supporting Kyiv even in the event of a ceasefire, including discussions on a possible peacekeeping force. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also joined the call.

The leaders agreed to form a joint task force with the US to “accelerate” work on long-term security guarantees for Kyiv, one of several areas where Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart. Zelenskyy has said the “main problem” is President Putin’s demand for legal recognition of all territories seized by Russian forces, including areas still contested. Moscow continues to insist on full Ukrainian withdrawal from the entire Donbas region, while also holding Crimea, as well as large parts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

Diplomatic activity surged after last week’s leak of the original US draft, which proposed that Ukraine cede territory, limit its military size and forego NATO membership — provisions widely criticised in Europe and deemed unacceptable in Kyiv. The plan’s origins also became a political flashpoint, with Rubio forced to clarify publicly that it was “authored by the US” after some senators claimed he had privately suggested it was effectively a Russian document.

Trump on Tuesday downplayed the significance of the leaked version. “That was not a plan, it was a concept,” he told reporters. “It was just a map.”