President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and US envoy Steve Witkoff landed in Moscow on Thursday ahead of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin aimed at ending the Ukraine war.
The pair met with Russian presidential special envoy Kirill Dmitriev on their arrival at Vnukovo Airport.
The trip comes after two days of talks in Abu Dhabi between Russian, Ukrainian and American negotiators – the first of their kind since February – which concluded with no clear breakthrough.
US seeks humanitarian progress and wider negotiations
Speaking after Wednesday’s talks, which ended after fewer than two hours, Kushner said the purpose of the Moscow meeting was to finalize plans for more humanitarian relief and the release of prisoners, as well as to push to “get Europeans added to the format so we can make this a multilateral format.”
While Ukraine has long argued that Europe should be at the main negotiating table, Moscow has so far resisted such efforts.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov criticized the presence of European officials in the UAE city earlier this week, saying their involvement was not a “promising approach.”
Meanwhile, when asked if there had been any contact between the Russians and any EU representatives in Abu Dhabi, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday, “No such contacts were planned, and none took place.”
Kushner – who acts as one of the country’s top diplomats despite holding no official role within the Trump administration – and Witkoff are also expected to travel to Dublin to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and discuss ideas from the Abu Dhabi talks.
Kyiv faces drone attack
Despite the flurry of diplomacy, the latest push for peace has not afforded Ukraine respite from the daily barrage of Russian attacks.
Moscow launched a ballistic missile and drone attack on Ukraine overnight into Thursday, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. In Kyiv, at least one person was killed, and several others injured amid a Russian drone attack Thursday morning, local authorities said.
Zelensky also said Thursday that Starshield – a military-grade version of Elon Musk’s Starlink service that is critical to Ukraine’s military operations – has faced “significant disruptions” in recent days, hampering Kyiv’s ability to shoot down Russian drones.
“These are not random errors but systematic speed restrictions. For us, this primarily means a significant complication in intercepting Russian jet-powered drones,” Zelensky posted on X. “We are trying to establish all the circumstances with the American side.”
In October too, Ukraine said speed limits were imposed on Starshield satellite terminals, as the relationship between Kyiv and Washington deteriorated. Trump denied approving that decision, while Musk said the Trump administration was behind the restrictions.
Source: CNN
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