Kremlin official: US envoys’ Moscow mission important day for peace

Russia’s Special Envoy for Investment and Economic Cooperation Kirill Dmitriev has hailed the upcoming visit of US envoys to Moscow as an important day for peace, as key figures behind President Donald Trump’s recent Gaza deal prepare to advance the administration’s emerging Ukraine peace agenda.

“Important day for peace: the team that delivered President Trump’s Gaza peace deal will be in Moscow to advance Trump’s peace agenda in Ukraine,” Dmitriev wrote on X, Caliber.Az reports.

Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, a longtime Trump business associate, and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, are scheduled to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on December 2. The trip comes amid heightened diplomatic activity as the nearly four-year war in Ukraine approaches a critical juncture.

The Moscow visit follows a series of intensive diplomatic engagements. On December 1, US envoy Witkoff met in Florida with Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov, the secretary of Ukraine’s National Security.

Washington has recently circulated a 28-point draft peace proposal, which included a ceasefire along September 2025 lines, Russian retention of annexed territories such as Crimea and parts of Donbas, Ukrainian neutrality outside NATO, limits on military capabilities, sanctions relief, and a $50 billion reconstruction fund. The framework, however, drew strong backlash from Kyiv and European partners for appearing overly accommodating to Moscow.

Subsequent revisions during high-level talks in Geneva on November 23 and Abu Dhabi on November 25 reduced the plan to 19 points, integrating Ukrainian and European objections—particularly on issues of sovereignty and long-term security guarantees.

The most recent discussions, held in Miami on November 30, aimed to resolve outstanding concerns on territorial arrangements and security commitments ahead of Witkoff’s Moscow trip.

While the session did not yield major breakthroughs, negotiators described it as constructive and said it helped build momentum toward a potential Zelenskyy-Trump summit in early December, with both sides signaling optimism about “additional progress.”

By Sabina Mammadli