Witkoff and Kushner Meet With Putin in Moscow, Kremlin Says 'Lot of Work' Needed for Peace

President Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Russia on Tuesday to discuss ending the conflict in Ukraine, though no significant breakthroughs were made.

The Details: After waiting for a few hours, the two spoke with President Putin for nearly five hours at the Kremlin. The two were reportedly expected to meet with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy in Brussels on their way back to the US, but the meeting was canceled. Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said the two promised the Kremlin they would return straight to DC.

Key Quotes: Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, "A direct exchange of views took place yesterday for the first time. Some things were accepted, some things were marked as unacceptable – this is a normal working process of finding a compromise." Ushakov said the talks were "useful, constructive, and highly substantive," but added there was still a "lot of work" to be done.

Before the Meeting: Putin spoke at an economic forum before the meeting and offered insight on Russia's current position on Ukraine. He said the European Union's peace plan suggestions are "absolutely unacceptable" for Russia and that the bloc is trying "to block the entire peace process altogether." He also said, "We're not going to war with Europe; I've said that a hundred times. But if Europe suddenly wants to fight us and starts, we're ready right now."

For Context: The Moscow meeting comes just a day after Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Witkoff, and Kushner met Ukrainian officials in Florida. The current working document is a peace plan that was first drafted by the Trump administration and has since been revised after a meeting with Ukraine. The European Union proposed its own plan but has been mostly sidelined from negotiations.

How The Media Covered It: Outlets across the spectrum highlighted the length of the talks. Many Western media outlets from the left and center described the peace efforts as stalled. BBC News (Center bias), Euronews (Center), and CNN (Lean Left) said there was no "breakthrough" in their headlines. The Washington Post (Lean Left) wrote that progress was "elusive." Fox News (Right), Reuters (Center), The New York Times (Lean Left), and others emphasized the length of the meeting in headlines. Kremlin-funded RT (Lean Right) highlighted Ushakov's assessment of the talks as "constructive and substantial" in its headline.

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