US President Donald Trump announced Friday that he is dispatching two senior envoys — special representative Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner — to Russia and Ukraine this weekend, carrying what he described as a proposal to "end the war." The pair are expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday before travelling to Kyiv on Sunday for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in what will mark their first visit to Ukraine since Trump returned to office.
Speaking at the White House, Trump offered few specifics about the plan but expressed cautious optimism. "There may be a good chance that we'll do it," he said. He declined to confirm whether the proposal involved Ukraine ceding territory, as he has previously suggested. Witkoff and Kushner have travelled to Moscow on multiple occasions and have also been involved in negotiations over ceasefires in Gaza and with Iran, but Sunday's expected Kyiv stop would be their first in Ukraine under this administration.
The diplomatic push comes against a backdrop of escalating violence. Just hours before Trump's announcement, a Russian drone struck the Kyiv headquarters of Ukraine's SBU security service — the country's main intelligence agency — in what Zelenskyy described as the first such attack on the building since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022. At least twelve people were injured, and a separate Russian strike on Kamianske, a city in the southeastern Dnipropetrovsk region, killed four people and wounded five on Saturday. Zelenskyy said he had ordered the SBU's acting chief to respond "adequately" while also proposing a temporary ceasefire for the duration of the envoys' visit. "There will be no air strikes on our part, and Russia must reciprocally ensure a ceasefire," he said. Russia did not immediately respond to the proposal.
Diplomacy has struggled to gain traction. Putin, speaking at an international economic forum on Thursday, acknowledged there were "chances" of a deal but showed no sign of softening his conditions, which include significant territorial concessions from Ukraine — terms Kyiv and its European allies have repeatedly rejected as tantamount to capitulation. Russia currently controls roughly 20 percent of Ukrainian territory. Trump attributed part of the impasse to personal animosity, telling reporters that Zelenskyy and Putin "truly hate each other" and that the tension was "getting in the way."
The renewed push follows a period of stalled talks. CIA Director John Ratcliffe visited Moscow in late August to press Russian counterparts on a potential settlement, and Washington also welcomed Russia's finance minister at a G20 gathering in North Carolina earlier this week — small signals of engagement even as fighting intensifies. The war, now in its fourth year, has exacted a devastating toll: estimates suggest Russia has suffered around 450,000 deaths, while Ukrainian fatalities are believed to number between 125,000 and 150,000. Whether this weekend's talks can break the diplomatic deadlock remains deeply uncertain.