Breaking: US envoys Witkoff, Kushner arrive in Ukraine for the first time to discuss peace talks, sources say

Editor's note: This is a developing story and is being updated.

U.S. President Donald Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Ukraine on Sept. 6 as part of Washington's diplomatic effort to end the Russia-Ukraine war, people familiar with the matter told the Kyiv Independent.

The arrival came only a day after the two envoys held more than three hours of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, a discussion both sides described as "substantive."

"We are interested in bringing the end of the war closer," President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X after meeting top Ukrainian officials ahead of the envoys' visit.

"Peace is needed. Security guarantees are needed. A dignified character of the postwar peace is needed. Our proposals are ready."

Witkoff and Kushner are making their first, repeatedly postponed visit to Ukraine's capital amid the fresh U.S.-led push to broker a conclusion to the full-scale Russian invasion, which has been ongoing for more than four and a half years.

The negotiations have been effectively in deadlock since earlier this year as Moscow continues to reject a ceasefire along the current front lines and demands that Kyiv cede Donbas — a partially occupied and strategically vital region in Ukraine's east — and give up on its NATO membership aspirations.

Zelensky's Chief of Staff Kyrylo Budanov told the New York Times that the U.S.-mediated peace talks could resume in late September, shortly after the Russian State Duma elections and weeks before the U.S. midterm elections.

Nevertheless, the Kremlin has not signaled an intent to concede on its territorial demands, and Kyiv warned that Russian forces are preparing to escalate strikes against Ukrainian cities and the energy grid in winter.

The talks in Moscow did not seem to yield a breakthrough, as Putin said he expects Russia to meet its "goals" and that Moscow wants the root causes of its war to be resolved.

A White House official told journalists that the two parties "discussed substantive plans for next steps, which will be announced in the coming weeks," without disclosing further details.

Russia and Ukraine agreed to refrain from aerial strikes against each other's capitals to ensure the safety of the U.S. negotiators. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Sept. 5 that Putin had ordered Russian forces not to strike Kyiv for three days beginning "at midnight," according to Russian state media.

Ukraine had proposed a broader three-day ceasefire that would go beyond attacks on the two capitals and include fighting along the front line. Putin said during his meeting with the U.S. envoys that Russia had not agreed to the broader proposal.

Russian forces nevertheless launched multiple attacks across Ukraine overnight on Sept. 5, including strikes on Kyiv, according to Zelensky. A further wave of attacks followed on Sept. 6, including against Kyiv Oblast, though no hits in the city of Kyiv were reported.