Moscow, Sep 06 (V7N)- US President Donald Trump's top envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow as part of renewed diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

The meeting took place at the Kremlin on Saturday (September 5).

In a video released by the Kremlin, Putin was seen welcoming the two US envoys. He acknowledged that the current situation is difficult but stressed the importance of continuing negotiations.

During the meeting, Witkoff thanked Putin for agreeing to a three-day ceasefire in Moscow and Kyiv. Witkoff and Kushner are scheduled to travel to Kyiv on Sunday, marking their first visit to the Ukrainian capital.

Trump said last Friday that his envoys were traveling to Russia and Ukraine with a proposal aimed at ending the conflict. Previous US- and ally-led efforts to broker peace, however, have failed to produce a lasting agreement.

Putin said continued communication is important and praised Trump's peace efforts. He also said he was comfortable working with the US envoys.

According to Russian state media, the meeting lasted around three hours. Putin's adviser Yuri Ushakov described the talks as “constructive and very frank.”

Ushakov said the discussions covered the Ukraine conflict, Russia-US economic relations and possible major projects. The battlefield situation and the need to address what Moscow calls the “root causes” of the conflict were also discussed.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had spoken with the US envoys and that preparations for Sunday's meeting in Kyiv had been completed.

Zelensky said Ukraine was prepared to refrain from attacking Moscow from Saturday through Monday, while expecting Russia to halt attacks on Kyiv during the same period.

Russian media reported that Putin had ordered a three-day ceasefire in Kyiv to coincide with the US delegation's visit. However, Moscow has not agreed to a nationwide ceasefire covering areas outside the Ukrainian capital.

Zelensky has described recent Russian attacks on Kyiv and Boryspil airport as “message attacks,” suggesting they may have been intended to disrupt the planned visit by the US delegation.

Ukrainian airspace has remained closed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. It therefore remains unclear how the US envoys will travel from Moscow to Kyiv.

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