US Envoys Set for Russia Visit

US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will visit Russia this weekend and could also travel to Ukraine, according to reports.

Russian state news agency TASS, citing an unnamed source, reported that the two men would visit both countries. Witkoff and Kushner, who are leading US efforts to broker a peace agreement in Ukraine, last visited Moscow in January, when they held four hours of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin that continued late into the night.

However, a source familiar with the negotiations told Reuters that a possible trip to Ukraine was still under discussion. The teams have discussed 6 September as a possible date. If Witkoff and Kushner travel to Kyiv, it would be their first visit to the Ukrainian capital.

The same Reuters source said Russia does not want the negotiators to visit Kyiv and is trying to persuade them to change their plans.

Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart over the terms for ending the four-and-a-half-year war. Putin has repeatedly demanded that Ukraine cede more territory, while Kyiv rejects conditions it considers tantamount to surrender.

The most recent US-mediated talks between Russia and Ukraine took place in February, shortly before the start of the US-Israeli war against Iran.

(Reuters, bak)