The Kremlin says Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in Moscow with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to discuss a potential settlement to the war in Ukraine, following weeks of intensified diplomatic activity.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to meet in Moscow on Jan. 22 with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, to discuss a possible peace framework for ending the war in Ukraine.
Putin confirmed the upcoming meeting during a late Jan. 21 session with permanent members of Russia’s Security Council, according to Russia’s state news agency TASS. The announcement formally corroborated comments Witkoff made earlier while attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Witkoff, who also works as a New York real estate developer, said in an interview with CNBC that progress had been made in talks aimed at ending the conflict and that discussions were increasingly focused on territorial issues.
Putin said Witkoff and Kushner “are coming to Moscow to continue the dialogue on the Ukrainian settlement,” adding that he also intends to discuss the details of Russia’s potential participation in the Gaza Board of Peace, an initiative he was invited to join by President Donald Trump.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to provide an exact time for the meeting but said it would take place in the evening Moscow time, according to Russian state media reports. “The Russian President highly appreciates the peacekeeping efforts of President Trump personally and his team, including special envoy Witkoff,” Peskov said. “We welcome these efforts and their effectiveness.”
The upcoming talks will mark the seventh meeting between Putin and Witkoff, with their most recent face-to-face discussion having taken place in Moscow on Dec. 2 of last year.
Ahead of the meeting, Witkoff said there had been “lots of progress in the last six to eight weeks,” adding that negotiations now largely revolve around land-related disputes. He described territorial questions as “the 800 lb elephant in the room,” while saying negotiators had “some very, very good ideas” to address them. “I just sense that everybody wants a peace there, that it’s time,” he said.
Witkoff’s comments echoed recent remarks by President Donald Trump, who said earlier this week that an agreement to end the war was “reasonably close” following his announcement that he would meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Switzerland.
“I think I can say that we’re reasonably close,” Trump told reporters after speaking at the Davos forum. “We have to get it stopped. … I believe they’re at a point now where they can come together and get a deal done. And if they don’t, they’re stupid.”
Earlier in the week, Zelenskyy said he was prepared to travel to Davos if documents outlining U.S. security guarantees and a broader prosperity plan were ready to be signed, according to his public comments. Zelenskyy had initially been expected to attend the forum on Jan. 20 but canceled after an overnight Russian assault targeted Ukraine’s already strained energy infrastructure.
The United States has conducted parallel talks with Russia, Ukraine, and European leaders over multiple draft proposals aimed at ending the conflict, though no final agreement has yet been reached despite Trump’s repeated assurances that a deal is attainable. Diplomatic activity has intensified as the war approaches its fourth anniversary on Feb. 24.
Trump has said Putin “wants to make a deal,” while also stating that previous negotiations faltered due to what he described as “abnormal hatred” between leaders. He has also said Zelenskyy had recently emerged as the final obstacle to reaching an agreement.
Following a Dec. 28, 2025, meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, the president said the United States and Ukraine were “a lot closer” to a peace plan, though territorial disputes in eastern Ukraine remained unresolved. “The land you’re talking about, some of that land has been taken,” Trump said at the time. “Some of that land is maybe up for grabs, but it may be taken over the next period of a number of months.”
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