Trump sends envoys to Moscow, Kyiv with new plan to ‘end war’

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Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky (left) attends a meeting with Head of the Security Service of Ukraine, SBU, Oleksandr Poklad in Kyiv, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine Photo by Handout / UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE / AFP.

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US President Donald Trump said Friday he is sending envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Moscow and Kyiv with a plan to end more than four years of war in Ukraine.

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The move marks Washington’s latest bid to break a diplomatic stalemate in Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

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A senior Ukrainian official told AFP the envoys were due in Kyiv on Sunday.

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US outlet Axios reported they would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday, and then President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Sunday. The Kremlin declined to comment.

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Trump told reporters that the two negotiators would seek to gauge whether progress towards peace was possible.

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Peace efforts have stalled due to Washington’s war with Iran, while Moscow and Kyiv have intensified long-range attacks, driving up civilian casualties to levels not seen since the start of fighting.

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“I sent Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, two great negotiators. They’ve done a great job, and we sent them over to see whether or not we can get something done. And there may be a good chance that we’ll do it,” Trump said.

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“They’re bringing with them a proposal to end the war,” he said.

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The US president would not say whether the plan involved Ukraine ceding territory as he has previously suggested, but added: “We have an idea for peace.”

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It will be the first time that Trump’s businessman friend Witkoff and son-in-law Kushner have visited war-torn Kyiv since Trump returned to office last year with a pledge to resolve the conflict.

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Witkoff and Kushner, who have been involved in negotiations for ceasefires in Gaza and Iran, have travelled repeatedly to Moscow in previous attempts at diplomacy.

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Grinding war

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The renewed push for diplomacy comes as Russia and Ukraine pummel each other with long-range missile and drone attacks.

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Just hours before Trump’s announcement, a Russian drone struck the headquarters of Ukraine’s SBU security service in central Kyiv, according to Zelensky.

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The strike, which Zelensky said was aimed at the office of the agency’s acting chief, was the first on its headquarters since the start of the invasion.

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Despite the unprecedented nature of the strike, the Ukrainian president proposed observing a ceasefire with Russia for the duration of the US envoys’ trip.

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“There will be no airstrikes on our part, and Russia must reciprocally ensure a ceasefire — without its own airstrikes — for the duration needed to conduct these talks,” he said in his evening address.

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Russia did not immediately comment on the proposal.

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Hours later, Oleksandr Ganzha, head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration, said a Russian strike killed four people and wounded five in the southeastern city of Kamianske.

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Zelensky had said on Wednesday that Russian airspace would be “completely unsafe” and filled with Ukrainian drones as long as Moscow continued its war.

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Witkoff and Kusher’s trip comes more than week after a rare visit to Moscow by CIA director John Ratcliffe, who warned Russia against any attack on NATO member states, according to US media.

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Earlier this week, the United States welcomed the Russian finance minister at a G20 gathering in North Carolina.

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