Trump Allies Take Peace Proposal to Moscow as U.S. Asks Kyiv to Pause Drone Strikes
Donald Trump says his associates Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are carrying a proposal to end the war in Ukraine to Moscow, while U.S. officials reportedly urge Kyiv to halt some drone attacks during their visit. The overlapping moves highlight how battlefield tactics and political channels are being linked in efforts to shape a possible settlement.
Diplomacy around the war in Ukraine is taking an unusual turn as Donald Trump claims his envoys are heading to Moscow with a proposal to end the conflict, while U.S. officials reportedly press Kyiv to temporarily halt drone strikes on Russian territory during the visit.
Trump has said that real estate developer Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner are bringing a proposal to Moscow aimed at ending the war. Parallel reporting from The New York Times indicates that Washington is asking both Russia and Ukraine to restrain strikes against each other during the envoys’ time in the region, with particular pressure on Kyiv to suspend drone attacks on Moscow and on Russian energy infrastructure.
According to the newspaper, current U.S. officials have conveyed to Ukraine that pauses in high-profile strikes could create a more conducive atmosphere for talks. At the same time, Bloomberg, citing people close to the Kremlin, reported that figures in Russia’s establishment are pessimistic about the mission, recalling earlier visits by the same individuals that they say did not produce terms Moscow found acceptable.
Trump has framed the conflict repeatedly in personal terms, saying he talks to Vladimir Putin and stating that the Russian leader is not planning to attack NATO territory. He has blamed what he describes as serious hatred between Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and Putin for blocking an agreement, and has characterized the war as driven by a personality problem.
For Ukrainians under fire from missiles and drones, the notion of pausing their own long-range strikes on Russian targets carries immediate risk. Deep strikes on energy infrastructure and symbolic sites in Moscow have become one of Kyiv’s limited tools to impose costs on Russia beyond the front line and to pressure Moscow’s population and leadership. Reducing those attacks, even temporarily, could weaken leverage just as Russia continues operations in eastern Ukraine and maintains attacks on Ukrainian cities and power grids.
For civilians and businesses in Russia, especially in Moscow and industrial regions hit by Ukrainian drones, any pause in attacks could bring short-lived relief. But the lack of clarity about what, if anything, would be offered in return from the Russian side leaves open whether such restraint would translate into fewer Russian strikes on Ukraine or only freeze one side’s escalation tools.
Strategically, the episode raises questions about who actually sets the terms of potential talks. Formal negotiations have stalled, and an effort by Trump-aligned envoys to advance their own plan risks creating parallel tracks that may confuse allies and adversaries alike. If Moscow perceives deep divisions in the U.S. approach, it could harden its terms, betting that a more favorable interlocutor might eventually emerge in Washington.
The broader pattern is that as wars drag on, unofficial or semi-official intermediaries proliferate. Business figures, former officials and political hopefuls seek roles in shaping endgames, sometimes with the quiet encouragement of governments, sometimes in competition with them.
Key indicators to watch next include whether Kyiv visibly slows or suspends drone operations against targets inside Russia during the reported visit; any public Kremlin acknowledgment of receiving a concrete proposal from Kushner and Witkoff; and reactions in European capitals, where leaders will be assessing whether this initiative helps or complicates their own efforts to manage escalation and support Ukraine.
Sources
- OSINT