Russia's President Vladimir Putin (R) welcomes US special envoy Steve Witkoff (2nd R) and US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner (L) prior to their talks in Moscow on September 5, 2026. Russian President Vladimir Putin met with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on September 5, 2026 for talks on ending more than four years of war in Ukraine. "The situation is of course not simple," Putin told the US officials in footage aired on Russian state media.
The latest visit to Moscow by Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff has triggered a fresh wave of speculation in Russia about what Washington is trying to achieve.
With US President Donald Trump under pressure at home and much of his administration’s foreign policy bandwidth consumed by Iran, the trip has been interpreted less as a breakthrough mission than as a signal — one that may be aimed as much at domestic US politics and alliance management as at Russia itself.
Russian analysts see the visit in different ways. Some believe the Americans are simply sounding out Moscow before returning to Kiev, trying to gauge whether any room remains for movement on Ukraine. Others argue that the mission is part of a broader display of diplomatic activity by the Trump White House, intended to project momentum where little real progress is possible. Still others view it as an exercise in “shuttle diplomacy”, useful mainly for gathering information and assessing the atmosphere rather than producing concrete results.
