Putin discusses Ukraine deal with US envoys Witkoff and Kushner

Bloomberg News on Jan 22, 2026

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Russian President Vladimir Putin held more than three hours of talks with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in the Kremlin on the latest peace plan aimed at ending his war in Ukraine.

“It’s so good to see you,” Witkoff said at the start of the meeting as Putin shook hands with the envoys in a video posted on the Kremlin’s Telegram channel.

There was no immediate word on the outcome of the meeting, which ended well after midnight Moscow time. It was Witkoff’s seventh visit to Putin as U.S. President Donald Trump has pushed for a peace deal — so far without success.

U.S. and Ukrainian officials have said they’ve made significant progress on a 20-point plan to end the Russian full-scale invasion that’s lasted almost four years and spiraled into Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II. Kyiv and Moscow remain at an impasse over key issues, though, including Putin’s demands for control of territory that belongs to Ukraine and remains under its control.

Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov and Putin’s envoy Kirill Dmitriev joined the talks, according to the presidential administration. Josh Gruenbaum, a White House adviser and commissioner of the U.S. General Services Administration’s Federal Acquisition Service, also took part, the Kremlin said.

The envoys arrived in Moscow to meet Putin hours after Trump held “good” talks with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

“It’s not like we’re discussing things that have been discussed for six or seven months. He came and said he wants to make a deal,” Trump told reporters later on Air Force One.

He said he also asked Zelenskyy how Ukraine has managed widespread heating outages resulting caused by Russian airstrikes on power plants and other infrastructure.

“He gave me the answer: ‘It’s pretty amazing what they do to live,’” Trump said.

Ahead of his trip, Witkoff expressed optimism at a breakfast panel on Ukraine at Davos on Thursday. “This is the most important endeavor that Jared and I have,” he said. “I think we’re going to get it done.”

Witkoff, who met with Putin six times last year, said that he would travel to the United Arab Emirates after Moscow for “working groups” with Russian and Ukrainian officials.

Putin received a draft of the peace plan earlier this month via Dmitriev that had been coordinated with Ukraine and European counterparts, according to people familiar with the matter. The documents were passed to Moscow informally for review, allowing Putin to prepare feedback and propose changes ahead of the visit by Witkoff and Kushner, who’s Trump’s son-in-law.

The Kremlin viewed the proposal as a significant step forward, the people said, even though it fell short of a finalized agreement and many issues of interest to Moscow were either missing or framed in ways they found unsatisfactory.

“The Ukrainians have said that we’re 90% done and I agree with them. In fact, I think that we’ve made even more significant improvement,” Witkoff said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Wednesday. “I think everybody is embedded in the process and wants to see a peace deal happen.”

Putin said late Wednesday that he’s ready to commit Russian assets frozen in the U.S. over the 2022 invasion of Ukraine to rebuild Ukrainian regions damaged in the war after a peace treaty is concluded, and that he planned to raise the topic with Witkoff and Kushner.

With only about $4 billion to $5 billion of Russia’s assets held in the U.S., though, the sum represents just a tiny fraction of the amount Ukraine would need to rebuild. It’s also a small slice of the country’s total frozen assets that are estimated at $300 billion worldwide, most of which is held in Europe.

In February 2025, the total cost of reconstruction as well as economic and social support for Ukraine was estimated at around $524 billion over the next 10 years.

That continues to increase. Putin has stepped up strikes on Ukraine’s power sector, leaving millions of people without heating and water amid freezing winter temperatures. Ukraine has also struck Russian energy infrastructure causing disruptions.

Zelenskyy tore into Europe for its apparent lack of willingness to stop Putin in a speech at Davos on Thursday.

“Europe loves to discuss the future but avoids taking action today,” a visibly angry Zelenskyy told the audience. “Where is the line of leaders who are ready to act?”

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