US Envoys Land in Moscow for Putin Talks as Russia and Ukraine Trade Strikes on Capitals
US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow on Thursday to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, carrying the unresolved questions from two days of talks in Abu Dhabi into the Kremlin itself — just hours after Russia and Ukraine exchanged attacks on each other’s capitals.
Putin’s special envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, greeted the two Americans at a Moscow airport amid wet snow and accompanied them into central Moscow, posting a photograph of himself shaking hands with Witkoff on the tarmac. The Kremlin meeting, expected in the first half of the day, is the 10th time Witkoff has met Putin in person.
Strikes on Both Capitals Overnight
The diplomacy landed against a backdrop of fresh fighting. Russia and Ukraine exchanged attacks on each other’s capitals early on Thursday, a day after the Abu Dhabi talks ended and shortly before the US envoys arrived in Moscow.
Explosions were heard in Kyiv in the early hours of Thursday, a Reuters witness said. Russia’s Defence Ministry said it had hit military and energy facilities in Ukraine, as well as a munitions warehouse in the capital region. Attacks also damaged energy and civilian infrastructure in the Rivne region, a local official said.
Moscow, meanwhile, said it had downed five drones heading for the capital, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said, with other drones intercepted in the Rostov and Tula regions. Neither side reported casualties from the overnight exchanges in the initial accounts.
What Abu Dhabi Produced — and What It Did Not
The Moscow visit follows the opening round of talks in Abu Dhabi, the first direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine mediated by the United States in nine months. The two days of talks in Abu Dhabi ended on Wednesday with one concrete result: the two sides agreed to a major prisoner exchange, though neither side disclosed the number of prisoners involved.
On the wider war, there was no public breakthrough. US mediators said differences remained on major issues, including territory. Kyiv has strongly rejected Putin’s demand that Ukraine surrender the whole of the eastern Donbas region in return for peace, and with talks deadlocked on land, US mediators have tried to steer discussions toward postwar security guarantees and reconstruction.
Despite public optimism from President Donald Trump, there has been no sign of major compromises from either side in the four-and-a-half-year-old war.
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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. Axios reported that the US envoys were expected to reiterate Trump’s request that Russia submit a proposal for such an agreement, though many European politicians oppose discussing Europe’s overall security before real progress on Ukraine — including a ceasefire — is made.
Dublin Next: Zelenskyy Briefing
When they leave Moscow, the US negotiators plan to fly to Dublin to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is attending a meeting of European leaders there. The sequence — Putin first, Zelenskyy second — gives the Ukrainian president a chance to hear Moscow’s response directly from the American intermediaries.
Kushner has said European partners must be at the Russia-Ukraine negotiating table, a point European governments have pressed as the talks move from delegations to presidential-level discussions.
Why This Matters
The Moscow trip is the clearest test yet of whether the Abu Dhabi round produced anything more than a prisoner swap. If Putin engages on the security-guarantee ideas the mediators raised, the talks could move toward a framework both sides can discuss. If he holds to the demand for all of Donbas, the envoys will carry that answer to Zelenskyy in Dublin — and the war, now in its fifth year, will continue to be fought while it is talked about.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are US envoys meeting Putin in Moscow?
Kushner and Witkoff are carrying the results of the Abu Dhabi talks to the Kremlin, seeking Putin’s response on the ideas discussed there — including postwar security guarantees — after two days of trilateral negotiations ended without a breakthrough on territory.
What did the Abu Dhabi talks achieve?
The two sides agreed to a major prisoner exchange, the only concrete outcome announced. Neither side disclosed the number of prisoners, and differences remained on major issues, including territory.
What happens after the Moscow meeting?
The envoys plan to fly to Dublin to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is attending a meeting of European leaders there, to brief him on Moscow’s response.
Were there attacks during the talks?
Yes. Russia and Ukraine exchanged attacks on each other’s capitals early on Thursday, hours before the envoys arrived in Moscow. Explosions were heard in Kyiv, and Moscow said it downed five drones heading for the capital.
The coming hours will show whether the Kremlin meeting produces a response worth carrying to Dublin — or whether the envoys return to Zelenskyy with the same deadlock that ended the Abu Dhabi round.
Sources: Reuters; Axios.
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