Witkoff and Kushner to see Putin then Zelensky this weekend

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on 4 September that Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will visit Moscow and then Kyiv on Sunday. It would be the first trip to the Ukrainian capital by either envoy since President Donald Trump returned to office and opened a mediation track on the war.

Russian state agency TASS reported the same window, 5 and 6 September, for Moscow. Zelenskyy said his team had the itinerary from the US president's office and had already met the officials who handle the American channel.

A pause in the air, on paper

Zelenskyy said Ukraine will "ensure the normal functioning of Russian airspace" so the negotiators can arrive. "There will be no air strikes from our side, and Russia must do the same." He added that the pause is for the visitors, not for Moscow.

US officials told the New York Times that Washington had spent weeks insisting Ukraine temporarily stop drone attacks on Moscow and on Russian energy sites while the two men are in Russia, and that Russia stop missile attacks on Kyiv. Whether that bargain holds is the first test of the weekend.

The timing is awkward. A Russian drone hit the SBU headquarters on Volodymyrska Street in Kyiv on 4 September. Zelenskyy said the aircraft was aimed at acting chief Oleksandr Poklad's office. Poklad was not in the room.

What they are carrying

It is not public whether Witkoff and Kushner are bringing a new draft or pressing both presidents to close the remaining gaps. Officials named control of the Donbas, territory Russia partly occupies, as one of those gaps. Security guarantees for Ukraine and reconstruction money remain on the same list that stalled talks in early 2026.

Witkoff, Trump's special envoy and a former real-estate partner of the president, has been to Moscow several times. Kushner, the president's son-in-law, has joined him on that track. They have met Zelenskyy in the United States, Germany and France. They have not sat with him in Kyiv.

Two weeks ago CIA director John Ratcliffe flew to Moscow for a few hours to see his counterpart. Putin said this week that he enjoys working with Witkoff and Kushner and that they are "always welcome" in Moscow. A source quoted by Reuters said Russia has been trying to keep the pair out of Kyiv.

The shape of the bet

Trump's first-year push leaned on territorial compromise. Kyiv resisted the early drafts. The talks then went quiet. A double visit in 48 hours is an attempt to put both leaders in the same diplomatic week without putting them in the same room.

Zelenskyy said the goal is "the most constructive, meaningful visit" and that Ukraine needs "real options to bring this war to an end." He said he wants to see what proposals the two men carry and what Moscow says to them.

Sunday in Kyiv will show whether the first visit is a courtesy call or the start of a text. The air-strike pause will show whether either army will freeze a lane for American guests. Those are two different tests. Only one of them needs a signed paper.