The United States on Monday said that fresh talks with Russia and Ukraine had made progress, raising hopes that three-way peace negotiations could resume to end the war.
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said “substantive progress” had been made during meetings in Moscow and Kyiv, including steps towards arranging further talks between the US, Russia and Ukraine.
“Substantive progress was made, including movement on scheduling additional trilateral talks. President Trump is working hard to stop the killing and work towards a lasting and durable peace,” Witkoff wrote on X.
At President Trump’s direction, United States negotiators visited both Moscow and Kyiv in order to facilitate additional dialogue to end the Russia-Ukraine War. Ahead of the trip,
the Russians and Ukrainians agreed to a three-day no-shoot policy to enable these discussions to… pic.twitter.com/7oj7C2Qp2p
— Special Envoy Steve Witkoff (@SEPeaceMissions) September 7, 2026
Witkoff and Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, met Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy separately over the weekend.
US sees progress in fresh peace push
The talks came after Russia and Ukraine agreed to a three-day pause in fighting to allow the discussions to take place.
Kremlin leaves door open to trilateral talks
The Kremlin did not rule out three-way talks on Monday, but said it was too early to discuss a venue or exact dates.
“It is too early to say anything about the venue or the exact dates at this stage,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Zelenskyy said his team was also working on its next steps after the meetings with US and European officials.
A senior Ukrainian official told AFP that the US envoys had brought new proposals that could offer a more effective route towards ending the war. But Zelenskyy warned that fighting could continue into the winter.
The latest diplomatic push comes after previous US-backed talks between Moscow and Kyiv in Geneva in February failed to resolve key differences, especially over territory.
Donbas remains key hurdle
Territory remains one of the biggest obstacles to a peace deal. Russia has demanded control of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, despite not fully controlling the area.
The war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, has killed and displaced large numbers of people and caused widespread destruction across Ukraine.
Fighting has continued despite diplomatic efforts, with both sides carrying out heavy drone and missile attacks.
The renewed US push also comes as Washington’s attention has been divided by the war with Iran.
(With inputs from AFP)
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