Witkoff and Kushner Prepare for Visit to Moscow and Kyiv on September 5–6: Kyiv Leg of Trip in Doubt

U.S. presidential special envoy Steve Witkoff and the American leader's son-in-law Jared Kushner are set to visit Russia and Ukraine over the coming weekend — September 5 and 6 — as part of ongoing diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict, according to Reuters. Information about the planned trip became known to the agency through a well-informed source. If the visit takes place in full, it would mark the first time both negotiators have come to Kyiv since joining the peace process. At the same time, the same source clarifies that the Moscow leg of the trip appears more certain, while the Kyiv leg remains a subject of active discussion and is, in effect, in doubt.

Details of the Planned Trip and Background of Contacts

The last time Witkoff and Kushner were in Moscow was in January 2026, when they held four-hour overnight talks with Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin. Since then, no direct contacts between the American special envoys and the Russian leadership have been recorded. The most recent Russia–Ukraine meeting mediated by the United States took place in February — shortly before the United States and Israel launched a military operation against Iran, which significantly altered the geopolitical context and pushed the Ukrainian issue to the back of Washington's agenda. Now, more than half a year after the February talks, the resumption of the diplomatic track could signal an attempt to bring the process back on track.

Moscow Tries to Block the Visit to Kyiv

A key nuance of the planned trip, as pointed out by the Reuters source, is the position of the Russian leadership. "The Russians do not want them to visit Kyiv and are trying to get them to change the plan," the agency's source stated. According to him, it is precisely this circumstance that makes the Kyiv leg of the visit highly uncertain. Against the backdrop of a significant and persistent gap between the parties' views on the terms of a ceasefire — Moscow is demanding that Ukraine renounce additional territories, while Kyiv is rejecting conditions it considers tantamount to surrender — a personal meeting between the American mediators and the Ukrainian leadership in Kyiv could become an important diplomatic gesture. This is why, in the source's logic, the Russian side is interested in ensuring that this element of the trip does not take place.

Contradictory Data

Various outlets assess the certainty of the planned visit differently. Reuters, citing its source, reports that Witkoff and Kushner "will visit Russia and Ukraine on Saturday and Sunday," while acknowledging that discussions of the Kyiv trip "are still ongoing." The Ukrainian outlet RBC-Ukraine reports the same version, emphasizing the "nuance" of a possible cancellation of the visit to the Ukrainian capital. However, the Russian BFM.ru formulates the information much more categorically: "Witkoff and Kushner will come to Moscow and Kyiv in the coming days," leaving no room for uncertainty. The Ukrainian Glavred, in turn, uses a different rhetorical frame, claiming that the American negotiators "are afraid to go to Kyiv." Thus, readers are presented with diverging levels of confidence in the fact of the trip itself, as well as with differing motivations for possible changes to the plan: from external pressure by Moscow to internal concerns on the American side. The participants in the process themselves have not publicly confirmed either the Moscow or the Kyiv leg of the visit.

Kremlin Reaction and Context of the Negotiations

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, commenting on media reports of a possible trip by Witkoff and Kushner to Moscow, effectively neither confirmed nor denied the information. "I would not announce anything, but when these contacts take place, we will inform you," he stated, which in the Kremlin's diplomatic practice is a standard formula that gives no definitive answer. Also deserving of separate attention is the fact that, according to the outlet Strana, the United States may make the cessation of Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory during the stay of the American mediators in Moscow and Kyiv a condition of the visit. If this demand is indeed being put forward, it significantly changes the nature of the negotiations and turns the visit from a working diplomatic contact into an element of pressure on the Ukrainian side. Steve Witkoff, who holds the post of Trump's special envoy, has already held multiple talks with Putin in Moscow, while Jared Kushner, the U.S. president's son-in-law, joined the diplomatic efforts on Ukraine at a later stage and has not yet visited Kyiv. The September 5–6 visit, if it takes place in full, would be the first joint arrival of both in the Ukrainian capital and, likely, a key test of how viable the American mediation track remains after a multi-month pause.