Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff’s private jet lands in Moscow to start latest US bid to end Ukraine war

A private jet believed to be carrying US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff has touched down in Moscow.

It comes after Trump said on Friday that the envoys were heading to Moscow and Kyiv in Washington’s latest bid to reach a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.

US outlet Axios reported they would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday, and then President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Sunday. The Kremlin declined to comment.

Trump told reporters that the two negotiators would seek to gauge whether progress towards peace was possible.

It comes as Zelensky announced today that Russia carried out ‘deliberate’ strikes on Ukrainian airports overnight in Kyiv and Boryspil.

‘Clearly, these Russian strikes on the airports are a reaction to the discussions and preparations for the possibility of the U.S. side using an aircraft to travel to Ukraine and land at Kyiv Airport or Boryspil Airport,’ he wrote on X.

He added:  ‘We have taken note of this Russian move, and next week we will adjust our operation accordingly regarding Russian airspace, which has become dangerous because of our drones and missiles in the sky. 

‘Of course, there are and will be no threats to diplomacy from our side. Ukraine is interested in bringing peace closer. Russia will be held accountable for what it does.’

The Ukrainian president added that four people were killed and five others injured after a Russian strike in Kamianske, in the Dnipro region.

Peace efforts have stalled due to Washington’s war with Iran, while Moscow and Kyiv have intensified long-range attacks, driving up civilian casualties to levels not seen since the start of fighting.

‘I sent Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, two great negotiators. They’ve done a great job, and we sent them over to see whether or not we can get something done. And there may be a good chance that we’ll do it,’ Trump said.

‘They’re bringing with them a proposal to end the war,’ he said.

The US president would not say whether the plan involved Ukraine ceding territory as he has previously suggested, but added: ‘We have an idea for peace.’

It will be the first time that Trump’s businessman friend Witkoff and son-in-law Kushner have visited war-torn Kyiv since Trump returned to office last year with a pledge to resolve the conflict.

Witkoff and Kushner, who have been involved in negotiations for ceasefires in Gaza and Iran, have travelled repeatedly to Moscow in previous attempts at diplomacy.

The renewed push for peace comes as Russia and Ukraine continue to trade fire with long-range missile and drone attacks.

Just hours before Trump’s announcement, a Russian drone struck the headquarters of Ukraine’s SBU security service in central Kyiv, according to Zelensky.

The strike, which Zelensky said was aimed at the office of the agency’s acting chief, was the first on its headquarters since the start of the invasion.

Despite the unprecedented nature of the strike, the Ukrainian president proposed observing a ceasefire with Russia for the duration of the US envoys’ trip.

‘There will be no airstrikes on our part, and Russia must reciprocally ensure a ceasefire – without its own airstrikes – for the duration needed to conduct these talks,’ he said in his evening address.

Russia did not immediately comment on the proposal.

Hours later, Oleksandr Ganzha, head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration, said a Russian strike killed four people and wounded five in the southeastern city of Kamianske.

Zelensky had said on Wednesday that Russian airspace would be ‘completely unsafe’ and filled with Ukrainian drones as long as Moscow continued its war.

Witkoff and Kusher’s trip comes more than week after a rare visit to Moscow by CIA director John Ratcliffe, who warned Russia against any attack on NATO member states, according to US media.

Earlier this week, the United States welcomed the Russian finance minister at a G20 gathering in North Carolina.

On Wednesday, Putin smirked as he renewed his threats to target Britain – with the taunt that attacks UK factories were a ‘military secret’.

During an interview with Russian state media RT, the Kremlin dictator issued an ominous warning after the UK agreed to supply Ukraine with classified blueprints for long-range missiles last week.

When asked ‘Could British military industrial facilities located on British territory become military targets?’ Putin replied with a smirk: ‘That’s a secret, a military secret.’

He made clear any ‘British military facilities’ inside Ukraine were ‘absolutely’ a Russian target.

The Russian leader was speaking at a nighttime press conference in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan, after attending the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) summit.

His taunt was the latest increasingly brazen threat from Moscow to target British military and defence companies after the UK increased its support for Ukraine.

Russian foreign ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova warned last week that ‘any British military installations and equipment in Ukraine and beyond its borders’ could be attacked in retaliation for Ukrainian strikes on Russia using British weapons.

Yesterday, Trump insisted Putin is ‘not looking to attack Nato territory’ despite a suspected Russian drone attack on a German airport that sparked outrage across Europe. 

When questioned in the Oval Office on Friday about the incident, the US President said: ‘I speak to him. I know him very well. Putin’s not looking to attack Nato territory.’ 

The discovery of drones packed with explosives, including one found alongside a Ukrainian jet and another at a Nato logistics hub, has raised alarm across Europe. 

European security officials believe the incidents form part of Russia’s hybrid warfare campaign against countries that have supported Ukraine since Putin launched his full-scale invasion in 2022. 

It is understood US intelligence believed Russian secret services were likely behind the attack in August, having reportedly matched DNA found on the drone with a suspected Russian sabotage attack at the same airport two years ago. 

Trump’s refusal to condemn the Kremlin on Friday is likely to fuel new concerns over the US’s commitment to Nato.