US envoy Steve Witkoff announced that he and Jared Kushner will travel to Russia on Thursday to hold discussions with President Vladimir Putin regarding new proposals for a peace plan aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.
"The Russians have extended an invitation to us, which in itself is a significant gesture from their side," Witkoff remarked during an interview with Bloomberg Television's Annmarie Hordern at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday. "Jared and I are scheduled to depart Thursday evening, arriving in Moscow late at night."
Witkoff stated that US President Donald Trump remains "highly focused on securing that peace deal, which constitutes a very, very crucial element of his agenda." The envoy revealed his plans to meet with Ukrainian officials later on Wednesday before proceeding to Moscow, after which he will travel to the United Arab Emirates for "working group" sessions.
"Ukrainian officials have indicated that we are 90% of the way there, and I concur with that assessment. In fact, I believe we have achieved even more substantial progress," Witkoff commented. "I sense that all parties are deeply engaged in the process and share a strong desire to see a peace agreement materialize."
Officials from the US and Ukraine have reported significant headway on a 20-point plan designed to conclude the full-scale Russian invasion, a conflict now approaching its fourth year and escalating into Europe's largest military confrontation since World War II. However, Kyiv and Moscow continue to face a stalemate on critical issues, particularly regarding Putin's demands for control over Ukrainian territory that currently remains under Ukraine's sovereignty.
Earlier this month, Putin received a draft of the peace plan through his aide Kirill Dmitriev, a document that had been coordinated with Ukrainian and European counterparts, according to informed sources. These documents were informally transmitted to Moscow for review, enabling Putin to formulate feedback and suggest amendments ahead of the anticipated visit by Witkoff and Kushner, who is Trump's son-in-law.
The Kremlin perceived the proposal as a noteworthy advancement, the sources indicated, even though it did not constitute a finalized agreement. Several issues important to Moscow were either omitted or presented in a manner the Kremlin found inadequate. Nonetheless, the mere inclusion of these topics and the initiation of work on them were viewed as positive developments.
Russia believes that Kushner, who accompanied Witkoff in talks with Putin last month, played a key role in structuring the negotiation process and establishing a framework to guide the discussions, the people familiar with the matter said.
Witkoff and Kushner engaged in a two-hour meeting with Dmitriev in Davos on Tuesday, as reported by Russia's state-run Tass news service.
Kremlin officials are attaching particular significance to what they interpret as a US willingness to recognize Crimea and other Ukrainian territories as being under Russian control. This is a top priority for Putin, leading him to proceed with caution while signaling an openness to limited compromises, according to a person with knowledge of the internal deliberations, who requested anonymity.
Officially, the Kremlin is still awaiting the outcomes of the latest trilateral negotiations involving US, Ukrainian, and Russian officials to be formally presented to Putin. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters on Tuesday that Russia has not "received any recent documents" pertaining to talks conducted in recent weeks.
Putin is expected to insist that the so-called "Anchorage understandings," reached during his August summit with Trump in Alaska, be incorporated into any final peace plan. Under that proposal, Russia seeks to acquire the entirety of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, while hostilities would be frozen along the current front lines in the southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
Ukraine continues to reject demands for the withdrawal of its forces from heavily fortified areas of Donetsk that Russian military forces have been unable to capture since fighting began in 2014.
US proposals have suggested converting the unoccupied areas into a demilitarized zone or a special administrative region with a free economic status. It remains unclear whether these plans would amount to a de facto recognition of Russian claims over that land, and what concessions, if any, Moscow is prepared to offer in exchange.
Kyiv is actively developing robust security guarantees with its US and European partners to deter potential future Russian aggression.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was anticipated to visit Davos for potential talks with Trump, though he indicated on Tuesday that he would likely cancel his attendance unless concrete agreements on security guarantees and a US-backed plan to revitalize Ukraine's economy were ready for signing. Zelenskiy is currently managing the response to massive Russian airstrikes that have left large parts of Kyiv without heating, power, and water during freezing winter conditions.
Russia remains firmly opposed to the deployment of any NATO troops in Ukraine and is seeking provisions that would impose sanctions on any party, including Ukraine, that violates the terms of a peace deal, according to the sources.
Moscow is also pursuing guarantees that the use of the Russian language in Ukraine and the operations of the Orthodox Church would be regulated in accordance with European standards prohibiting discrimination.