Diplomacy & Negotiations — 2026-05-11

Kremlin Expects Witkoff and Kushner to Visit Moscow Soon for Ukraine Peace Talks

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on May 10 that US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will come to Moscow "soon enough" to continue dialogue, in remarks to journalist Pavel Zarubin carried by Russian state outlet Vesti. Ushakov added, as reported by the Kyiv Independent and News-Pravda, that talks will not move forward until Ukraine withdraws forces from the entire Donbas, including areas Kyiv still holds, a demand Ukraine has rejected. The envoys have not visited Kyiv; Zelensky told the Kyiv Independent they may do so in late spring or early summer.

Analysis
Moscow's signal, sourced to a single Kremlin aide via state media and uncorroborated from Washington, that Witkoff and Kushner will visit 'soon enough' positions Russia as the cooperative party while Ushakov's Donbas-withdrawal precondition forecloses any outcome Kyiv would accept. Whether the visit materializes by May 25 is genuinely uncertain: Ushakov offered no date, no US confirmation has emerged, and the envoys' Moscow-only travel pattern leaves the channel tilted toward Russian framing. Moscow interprets Trump team's tolerance for Russian territorial claims as high enough to press Donbas demands in earnest, not merely to project cooperative optics.
4 sources
  1. Kremlin says Witkoff and Kushner will visit Moscow soon enough to continue dialogue - Al Arabiya
  2. Kremlin says it expects US envoys Witkoff, Kushner, 'quite soon' - Kyiv Independent
  3. Witkoff, Kushner May Come to Russia Soon: Kremlin Aide - Sputnik India
  4. Ushakov: Moscow expects Kushner and Witkoff to arrive "soon enough" - News-Pravda

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