In Moscow, Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s special envoy, and Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, were expected to discuss a revised peace proposal.
President Vladimir V. Putin made a series of public appearances on Tuesday promoting Russia’s battlefield progress and economic resilience, before meeting at the Kremlin with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Trump’s special envoy and son-in-law, for talks on the conflict in Ukraine.
In recent days, Mr. Putin has been underscoring Russia’s upper hand in the war and willingness to continue fighting, looking to convince his interlocutors that Kyiv is faltering on the front lines and must settle for a deal on his terms.
During the meeting on Tuesday at the Kremlin, Mr. Witkoff was expected to discuss with Mr. Putin a U.S.-backed peace proposal that was revised by American officials after recent negotiations with Ukrainian diplomats. The initial version of the U.S. plan that emerged last month was seen by Ukraine and its European allies as echoing the maximalist demands Russia has made since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Russian media showed footage of Mr. Putin beginning his meeting with Mr. Witkoff and Mr. Kushner at a large white table in the Kremlin. Joining Mr. Putin were Yuri Ushakov, the top Kremlin foreign policy aide, and Kirill Dmitriev, Mr. Putin’s special envoy and head of the Russia Direct Investment Fund. They began by exchanging pleasantries, with Mr. Witkoff saying he had a beautiful walk around Moscow before the meeting.
Mr. Witkoff’s visit to Moscow, his sixth since January, is taking place two days after American and Ukrainian delegations met in Miami to continue negotiations over the potential peace plan. Both sides called those talks constructive but said more work was needed, without detailing the unresolved issues.
Ahead of the meeting on Tuesday, Mr. Putin said that Russia would continue to answer Ukraine on the battlefield and portrayed the Kyiv leadership as weakened.
