US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow on Thursday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, opening a new round of US envoys Moscow Putin talks on a peace deal in Ukraine. The Kremlin meeting follows two days of US-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi that ended with agreement on another major prisoner exchange but no breakthrough on the wider war.
FAKTA
- Who: US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
- When: Thursday 12 November 2026; the Kremlin talks were expected to take place in the first half of the day.
- Why it matters: It is the tenth time Witkoff has met Putin in person, and the latest step in the US push to end the four-and-a-half-year war in Ukraine.
- What came before: Two days of trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi ended on Wednesday with a planned major prisoner exchange but no public breakthrough.
- What comes next: The envoys plan to fly to Ireland to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is attending a meeting of European leaders there.
US Envoys Moscow Putin Talks: What Is on the Table
Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s special envoy, met Kushner and Witkoff off their plane amid wet snow in Moscow and accompanied them to central Moscow ahead of the talks with Putin, Reuters reported.
The envoys are expected to raise the question of adding European partners to the talks. Kushner has said the Europeans must be at the table. A senior Russian diplomat said on Wednesday that Moscow could conclude non-aggression pacts with NATO member states as part of a new security architecture for Europe, though many European politicians say they oppose any discussion of Europe’s overall security before real progress on Ukraine, including a ceasefire.
Despite public optimism from US President Donald Trump, there has been no sign of major compromises so far, Reuters reported.
From Abu Dhabi to Moscow — and Then Dublin
This week’s Abu Dhabi talks were the first direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine mediated by the US to try to end the war in nine months. Russian and Ukrainian negotiators reported some progress, but the US side said differences remained on major issues, including territory. Read more: Russia and Ukraine Agree Large Prisoner Swap as Abu Dhabi Talks Conclude.
Kushner said the discussions in Abu Dhabi had “narrowed the gaps” between the two countries and that the meeting with Putin would hopefully make further progress, The Times reported.
After Moscow, the envoys plan to fly to Ireland to meet Zelensky. The Ukrainian president, who is in Ireland to attend a meeting of European leaders, said he hoped the Americans would return from their meeting with Putin with “specifics”. He said there could be a “window of opportunity” to reach a breakthrough in talks to end the war by the end of the year.
Sticking Points Remain on Territory
Kyiv has strongly rejected Putin’s demands to surrender the whole of the eastern region of Donbas in return for peace. With talks deadlocked on land, US mediators have tried to steer discussions towards postwar security guarantees and reconstruction, Reuters reported.
Zelensky has said a peace deal can only be reached at a face-to-face meeting with Putin. Kushner said on Wednesday that Moscow was not yet open to direct talks between the two leaders. The Kremlin has previously said Putin will only meet the Ukrainian leader in Moscow, a proposal Kyiv has rejected, The Times reported.
Overnight Strikes on Both Capitals
Russia and Ukraine exchanged attacks on each other’s capitals early on Thursday, a day after the Abu Dhabi peace talks ended and as the US envoys were set to travel to Moscow, Reuters reported. Explosions were heard in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv in the early hours of Thursday, a Reuters witness said.
The overnight strikes underlined how far apart the two sides remain even as diplomacy continues, with the fighting showing no sign of pausing for the negotiations.
