Putin Holds Four‑Hour Kremlin Talks With Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff on Possible Ukraine Deal

Russian President Vladimir Putin met for more than four hours in the Kremlin with Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, who traveled as a private U.S. delegation exploring possible pathways to end the war in Ukraine. The meeting — attended by Putin’s foreign‑policy aide Yuri Ushakov and investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev, with interpreters present — ran late into the Moscow night and produced no public agreement.

Shortly before the session, Putin warned European governments that a military confrontation with Russia would result in a swift and decisive outcome, and he dismissed European counter‑proposals on Ukraine as “absolutely unacceptable.” Russian and U.S. officials agreed not to disclose the substance of the talks; Ushakov said the American delegation would return to Washington to brief President Donald Trump and that no compromise had been reached on the central territorial questions.

The Kremlin talks followed a contentious month of diplomacy. A leaked set of 28 U.S. draft peace proposals alarmed Ukrainian and European officials, who said the package appeared to accommodate several of Moscow’s core demands — including limits on NATO, territory‑related concessions, and restrictions on Ukraine’s armed forces. European capitals subsequently produced counter‑proposals, and U.S. and Ukrainian officials in Geneva said they had prepared an "updated and refined peace framework" intended to bring the war to an end.

At a cabinet meeting in Washington earlier the same day, President Trump said the U.S. team was in Russia "to see if we can get it settled," calling the situation "not an easy situation" and repeating an administration estimate of 25,000–30,000 casualties per month. Independent casualty accounting for the conflict remains difficult; some U.S. officials have estimated total killed or wounded in the war at more than 1.2 million, though neither Kyiv nor Moscow publishes comprehensive figures.

Witkoff told Putin he had enjoyed a walk in central Moscow earlier in the day — reportedly including a stroll across Red Square — and described the city as "magnificent." Delegation members included foreign‑policy aides and business envoys; both sides relied on interpreters for the talks.

"They are on the side of war," Putin said of certain European powers, accusing them of proposing changes designed to block the peace process rather than advance it. He added that Russia did not seek war with Europe but warned that a European‑initiated conflict would be over so quickly "there would be no one left for Russia to negotiate with."

Ukraine and its Western backers reject Moscow’s principal demands — which include a pledge that Ukraine will never join NATO, caps on the Ukrainian armed forces, Russian control or formal recognition of territory Moscow now occupies (including Crimea, parts of Donbas, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson), and special protections for Russian speakers — as tantamount to capitulation that would leave Kyiv vulnerable to future aggression. U.S. officials have discussed potential security guarantees for Ukraine, including proposals reportedly involving a time‑limited guarantee of protection.

On the battlefield, Moscow has consolidated territorial gains in 2025 at their fastest pace since 2022, though pro‑Ukrainian maps and independent analysts estimate Russia still controls just over 19% of Ukraine — roughly 115,600 square kilometers — only marginally more than two years earlier. Russian forces released footage praising what they described as the capture of Pokrovsk; Ukrainian commanders said they still held parts of the city and had counterattacked some Russian positions.

The roots of the confrontation reach back to 2014, when unrest in Kyiv led to the ouster of a pro‑Russian president, Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the start of an insurgency in eastern Ukraine. The full‑scale invasion launched in February 2022 escalated the standoff between Moscow and the West to its most serious level since the Cold War.

As both delegations return to their capitals, officials on all sides expressed guarded skepticism about the prospects for a negotiated settlement. U.S. Senator Marco Rubio is among those who have tried to rework elements of the original U.S. draft to address Ukrainian and European concerns; he described the visit by the private delegation as an attempt to find a way to stop the fighting.

Reporting: Guy Faulconbridge. Editing: Timothy Heritage, Gareth Jones, Rod Nickel.