US Peace Push Stalls as Ukraine War Enters Pivotal Diplomatic Moment

A Weekend of High-Stakes Diplomacy

The Ukraine conflict entered one of its most consequential diplomatic weekends in years, as U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner shuttled between Moscow and Kyiv in a bid to revive stalled peace talks — only to leave both capitals without a breakthrough deal. It was Witkoff and Kushner's first trip to Ukraine despite months of negotiating with both sides and multiple trips to Russia, and Sunday marked the highest-level visit by a U.S. official to Ukraine since Trump started his second term.

The envoys began their whirlwind weekend of diplomacy with a three-hour meeting with Putin at the Kremlin on Saturday afternoon, followed by dinner with the Russian leader. Putin's foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov characterized the talks to reporters as constructive and useful, though he did not offer specifics about what, if anything, had been agreed, and said the conversation ranged beyond the battlefield, touching on potential joint economic ventures between Russia and the United States.

Kushner and Witkoff then met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a slew of officials in Kyiv on Sunday, less than a day after their Moscow meetings. The envoys met twice with Zelenskyy and his senior advisers, and national security advisers from the U.K., France, and Germany joined a third meeting. While Witkoff and Kushner had visited Moscow eight times, they had never held talks in Kyiv until now.

Cautious Words, No Deal

The latest peace talks in Kyiv and Moscow did not yield a diplomatic breakthrough. "We expect the war will continue," Zelenskyy said, adding that Ukraine is counting on U.S. energy and air defense support this winter. Still, the tone from the American side remained carefully optimistic. After the second meeting with Zelenskyy, Trump's envoys said they were "encouraged by the substantive discussion" and looked forward to making more progress, with a source who participated in the talks saying they "went well" and that Kushner and Witkoff want to work with the parties on a "refreshed" peace proposal — adding that "things may move in a good direction if there's a follow-up by all parties involved."

Trump's first call following the peace talks briefing was expected to be with Putin, with a U.S. official saying Trump would consult with Witkoff and Kushner before calling Putin and then speaking with Zelenskyy — calls likely to take place on September 7. A White House official told Reuters that the next steps would be announced in the coming weeks.

War Continues on the Ground

Diplomatic niceties did little to quiet the battlefield. Over the 24-hour period of September 6, Russian troops carried out 87 airstrikes using 313 guided bombs, and the occupiers also deployed 8,812 kamikaze drones and carried out 2,646 shelling attacks on positions held by Ukrainian forces and populated areas. Russian attacks killed 9 and injured 68 in Ukraine over the past day, even amid a declared pause in strikes against the two capitals.

The war's reach has also extended deeper into Europe. Germany formally announced that Russia was behind a failed explosive drone attack on Leipzig/Halle Airport, the result of a nearly month-long investigation that identified telltale signs of Russian hybrid warfare. An explosive-laden drone had fallen near a Ukrainian cargo airplane used to shuttle munitions, but failed to detonate and was defused by a police bomb squad. German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt raised the country's threat level from "general" to "high," and Germany subsequently ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in Bonn and the Russian House in Berlin, while tightening entry controls for Russian nationals.

What Comes Next

Zelenskyy emphasized the need for reliable Western security guarantees and said that further consultations involving European partners would follow — a pivotal moment, as Washington has now completed the first Moscow–Kyiv diplomatic cycle and holds first-hand positions from both sides. The path forward remains deeply uncertain. Moscow's invasion has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions, and previous rounds of U.S.-mediated peace talks encouraged by Trump — who campaigned on a promise to quickly end the war — have yielded few results. Whether this latest round of shuttle diplomacy can break the pattern, or whether the war grinds on through another brutal winter, may depend on what Trump says when he picks up the phone today.