MOSCOW: US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner could visit Russia and Ukraine over the weekend as Washington seeks to revive efforts to end the war, Russian state news agency TASS reported on Friday.
TASS said the two representatives of US President Donald Trump would travel to both countries on Saturday and Sunday but did not identify its source.
However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to confirm the reported visit, saying Moscow would announce contacts when they take place.
Witkoff and Kushner last visited Moscow in January, when they held four hours of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. They have yet to visit Ukraine.
Discussions Continue Over Possible Kyiv Visit
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that Trump’s representatives were expected in Moscow and Kyiv in the coming days.
Meanwhile, a source familiar with the discussions told Reuters that planning for the Ukraine leg remained under way, with Sunday considered a possible date. The source claimed Russia opposed a Kyiv visit and was seeking to alter the plan.
Major differences nevertheless continue to divide Moscow and Kyiv over any settlement.
Russia Maintains Territorial and NATO Demands
Peskov said Putin’s position remained “unshakeable,” including demands that Ukraine surrender the entirety of four regions claimed by Russia and abandon its ambition to join NATO.
Ukraine rejects those conditions and refuses to surrender territory it continues to defend.
Putin said Thursday that an agreement remained possible. However, Peskov cautioned that no concrete basis currently existed for reaching a peace settlement.
The last US-mediated negotiations between Russia and Ukraine took place in February.
Nevertheless, Peskov said diplomatic work and contacts were continuing as Washington explores another attempt to narrow the differences between the two sides.
