U.S. Peace Negotiation Envoys Set to Visit Ukraine and Russia After About Eight Months

[Financial News] U.S. envoys who have visited Russia since last year for negotiations to end the war in Ukraine are reportedly set to return to Russia this month for the first time since January. They also plan to visit Ukraine together for the first time on this trip.
The TASS Russian News Agency reported on the 4th, local time, citing an official, that U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump, are expected to visit Kyiv, Ukraine, and Moscow, Russia, in succession soon. When asked whether the U.S. envoys would indeed make consecutive visits to the capitals of the two countries, the official replied, "Yes."
On the 3rd, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the U.S. envoys' visit had been tentatively scheduled and that Ukraine was preparing substantive talks. Zelenskyy said, "I expect the Kyiv talks to take place within days," and emphasized that "active U.S. involvement is important" in mediating peace talks. The United States, however, has not yet issued an official position on their planned visit to Ukraine.
Witkoff and Kushner visited Russia in December last year and January this year to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in person. They had reportedly been scheduled to visit Kyiv last month for Ukraine's Independence Day on August 24, but the trip was later postponed.
News of the U.S. envoys' trip came shortly after contact between the U.S. and Russian finance ministers. The G20 Finance Ministers' Meeting, held in Asheville, North Carolina, on the 31st of last month, was attended by Russia's finance minister for the first time since the war in Ukraine began in 2022. Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov reportedly held a separate meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent after the G20 meeting and discussed the war in Ukraine, among other issues.
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