US envoys meet Putin: What’s behind latest diplomacy on Russia-Ukraine war?

US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have held talks with President Vladmir Putin in Moscow, in what appears to be new efforts by the Trump administration to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the envoys were bringing “a proposal to end the war” – Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II – and a senior ⁠⁠Russian ⁠⁠official said it was an “important peacemaking visit”.

Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and Witkoff, the US special envoy, are expected to arrive in Kyiv on Sunday, reviving diplomacy when both countries have escalated attacks. Both Moscow and Kyiv announced a three-day ceasefire to coincide with the latest trip.

So what’s behind the latest initiative by the US envoys and will it help end the war?

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said the high-level talks were “highly useful” and lasted for more than three hours, according to Reuters.

Witkoff and Kushner “outlined a number of ideas regarding possible avenues for a settlement,” said Ushakov, without providing any further detail, but added that the talks had been “substantive, very frank and constructive”.

Videos show Putin meeting the US envoys in the famous Red Drawing Room at the Kremlin on Saturday and telling his guests that the situation they are exploring “is, of course, not an easy one”.

The question remains whether Russia is willing to compromise, said Al Jazeera correspondent Yulia Shapovalova from Moscow. “Moscow demands that Ukraine not join NATO and hand over four Ukrainian regions to Russia, including territories not controlled by Russian forces.”