MOSCOW — U.S. President Donald Trump’s renewed effort to end the Russia–Ukraine war entered a potentially important diplomatic phase Saturday as his special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner held more than three hours of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin inside the Kremlin.

The September 5 meeting marked one of the highest-level direct contacts between Washington and Moscow in months and came as the war moves deeper into its fifth year, with fighting continuing along the front and both Russia and Ukraine intensifying long-range drone and missile attacks.

Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov described the closed-door discussions as “highly useful,” but neither side announced an agreement, ceasefire or breakthrough. According to Ushakov, the American delegation outlined several ideas for a possible settlement, while Putin reiterated Russia’s long-standing position that any peace agreement would have to address what Moscow calls the “root causes” of the conflict.

The Kremlin also said the talks went beyond battlefield and security questions. Possible future U.S.–Russia economic cooperation and large projects that could benefit both countries were discussed, suggesting that Washington and Moscow are exploring whether a broader improvement in bilateral relations could accompany any eventual settlement in Ukraine.

President Trump said Friday that Witkoff and Kushner were traveling with what he characterized as a concrete proposal aimed at ending the war. Details have not been publicly released, however, leaving unanswered some of the most difficult questions: the future of Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory, Ukraine’s security guarantees, NATO membership, Western sanctions on Russia and the structure of any postwar security arrangement.

At the beginning of Saturday’s meeting, Putin acknowledged the difficulty of the current situation but praised Trump for continuing diplomatic efforts. He indicated that continued direct communication between Washington and Moscow was useful despite the deep differences separating Russia, Ukraine and their international partners.

Witkoff conveyed Trump’s greetings and thanked the Russian side for helping ensure the delegation’s security. Putin, in turn, said Russia would take the necessary measures to protect the American negotiators during their diplomatic mission.

A particularly significant development surrounding the trip was a temporary reduction in strikes on the two capitals.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin ordered Russian forces not to strike Kyiv for three days because of the American delegation’s travel. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine was prepared to refrain from strikes on Moscow through Monday.

The arrangement, however, should not be confused with a nationwide ceasefire.

There is no indication that Russia agreed to stop military operations elsewhere in Ukraine or that Ukraine agreed to suspend attacks on Russian military, energy and logistical targets outside Moscow. Fighting on the front therefore continues, and the temporary restraint appears designed primarily to reduce risks to the visiting American delegation rather than to establish a broader truce.

The diplomatic mission is now expected to shift to Kyiv. Witkoff and Kushner are due to meet President Zelensky and senior Ukrainian officials on Sunday, September 6, giving Washington an opportunity to carry Russian positions directly to the Ukrainian leadership while presenting Trump’s proposed framework.

That sequence — Moscow followed immediately by Kyiv — may prove important. Rather than relying primarily on intermediaries, the same American negotiating team will hear directly from both Putin and Zelensky within roughly 24 hours.

Whether that creates common ground is another question.

The most difficult obstacle remains territory.

Russia continues to demand recognition of political and military realities created since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Moscow claims the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, even though Russian forces do not fully control all of them.

The Kremlin said Friday that Putin’s position remains unchanged: Ukraine should withdraw from the full territory of the four regions claimed by Russia and abandon its ambition to join NATO. Kyiv has consistently rejected those conditions, arguing that surrendering territory it still controls would reward military aggression and could leave Ukraine vulnerable to another Russian attack in the future.

Donetsk remains especially important.

A source close to the Kremlin told Reuters that Putin remains focused on capturing the remaining Ukrainian-held areas of the Donetsk region before reaching a final territorial settlement. Russian officials have projected confidence about further advances, although Western military analysts have questioned whether Moscow can achieve those objectives within the timetable reportedly anticipated by the Kremlin.

Independent battlefield assessments also indicate that Russian forces continue offensive operations in Donetsk but have not achieved rapid breakthroughs everywhere. The Institute for the Study of War reported that Russian forces continued operations in the Slovyansk direction on September 4 and 5 without confirmed advances there, illustrating the gap that can exist between political statements about battlefield momentum and the slower reality of territorial change.

Putin nevertheless continues to argue publicly that Russia holds the military advantage. Earlier this week he said Russian forces had made significant progress in Donetsk during August and acknowledged at the same time that Ukrainian drone strikes had caused real damage inside Russia, including to oil-related infrastructure.

Ukraine has increasingly used long-range drones against Russian refineries, oil terminals, military facilities and logistical infrastructure. Kyiv argues that such attacks weaken Russia’s ability to finance and sustain the war.

Russia, meanwhile, has dramatically expanded its aerial campaign against Ukrainian cities.

Kyiv has endured repeated drone and missile attacks, with residents increasingly facing air-raid alerts not only at night but during daytime hours. Reuters reported that the changing pattern of attacks has disrupted schools, transportation, businesses and everyday life across the Ukrainian capital. Children have repeatedly been moved into underground shelters while public infrastructure has suffered damage.

On September 4, one day before the Kremlin talks, a Russian drone struck the headquarters of Ukraine’s SBU security service in central Kyiv. Ukrainian authorities said five people were injured. The attack underscored the contrast between renewed diplomacy and an air war that had continued to escalate almost until the moment the American delegation arrived.

The human cost remains enormous.

The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission said that during the first six months of 2026 alone, 1,396 civilians were killed and 7,978 injured in Ukraine — a 37 percent increase in casualties compared with the same period in 2025. By the end of June, the UN had verified at least 16,431 civilian deaths since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, while stressing that the real toll is likely substantially higher.

July brought another sharp deterioration. UN monitors recorded at least 437 civilian deaths and 2,610 injuries during that month alone, with missiles and long-range drones remaining a major source of casualties.

Against that background, even limited diplomatic movement carries significance.

The Trump administration has attempted several times to revive negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv, but earlier initiatives stalled over territory, security guarantees and the fundamental question of whether any ceasefire would create a durable peace or merely freeze the battlefield.

The United States has also expanded direct contacts with Moscow beyond the current Witkoff-Kushner mission.

Reuters reported in late August that CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Moscow for meetings with Russian officials. The CIA declined to comment and the Kremlin neither confirmed nor denied the visit, while saying Putin had no meeting scheduled with Ratcliffe. Trump later characterized Ratcliffe’s travel as relatively routine rather than as a special mission carrying a single ultimatum.

That distinction is important: while the trip was widely reported, some details surrounding Ratcliffe’s discussions remain undisclosed and should not be presented as officially confirmed.

For Trump, the broader challenge is determining whether Putin and Zelensky are prepared to make compromises substantial enough to produce an enforceable settlement.

Moscow insists that a durable peace must address its security demands, including Ukraine’s relationship with NATO and Russian claims over occupied Ukrainian territory. Ukraine argues that the fundamental cause of the war is Russia’s invasion and that any agreement must protect Ukrainian sovereignty and include credible long-term security guarantees.

Those positions remain far apart.

There is also a broader geopolitical calculation. Russia wants sanctions relief, international economic normalization and recognition of gains made during the war. Ukraine wants guarantees strong enough to prevent another invasion. European governments are concerned that a poorly structured agreement could leave Ukraine exposed while allowing Russia time to rebuild its armed forces.

The United States therefore faces a diplomatic problem much more complicated than arranging a temporary ceasefire. Any lasting settlement would likely require agreements covering territory, military deployments, security guarantees, sanctions, reconstruction, prisoner exchanges, displaced populations and the future relationship between Russia and the West.

Saturday’s Kremlin meeting did not solve those problems.

But it did reopen a direct diplomatic channel at a moment when military pressure has been rising.

The next test comes in Kyiv.

Witkoff and Kushner are expected to present Zelensky with the results of their Moscow discussions while also hearing Ukraine’s response to Trump’s proposal. What emerges from that meeting could determine whether Washington moves toward more detailed negotiations, attempts to bring Russian and Ukrainian representatives together again, or finds itself confronting another diplomatic deadlock.

After more than four and a half years of war, enormous military and civilian losses, millions of displaced people, devastated infrastructure and far-reaching economic consequences for Europe and the wider world, expectations remain cautious.

There is still no comprehensive ceasefire, no territorial agreement and no evidence that Moscow and Kyiv have resolved their fundamental disagreements.

Yet the fact that the same senior American negotiating team is moving directly from a lengthy Kremlin meeting with Putin to talks with Zelensky represents one of the clearest signs in months that Washington is trying to inject new momentum into the peace process.

Whether that diplomatic momentum can overcome the much harder realities of territory, security and battlefield calculations may become clearer after Sunday’s talks in Kyiv.