US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are expected to travel to Kyiv after holding three-hour talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow about ending the war in Ukraine.

The White House said the envoys discussed “substantive plans for next steps” with Putin on Saturday. The details of those plans have not been made public, although an announcement is expected in the coming weeks.

Witkoff and Kushner are due to arrive in Kyiv on Sunday for what would be their first trip to the Ukrainian capital as US President Donald Trump’s top negotiators. They have said they hope to hold “equally productive meetings” in Ukraine.

It is not clear how the envoys will travel from Moscow to Kyiv, since Ukrainian airspace has been closed since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Moscow talks

The talks took place behind closed doors at Putin’s official residence in Moscow. Russian state media said the meeting lasted three hours.

Putin adviser Yuri Ushakov described the discussions as “constructive, extremely frank”. He said the talks covered the conflict in Ukraine, economic issues and potential major Russian-American projects.

Ushakov also said the sides discussed the need to address what he called the “root causes of the conflict”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was ready for “a substantive conversation”. Putin and Zelensky have agreed to halt strikes on each other’s capitals for three days.

The talks come as Russia and Ukraine have intensified aerial attacks in recent months. Ukraine says it has struggled to repel ballistic missile attacks because of a lack of interceptor missiles, while Kyiv has focused strikes on Russian economic infrastructure, including oil installations.