Vitkoff and Kushner met with Putin in Moscow. They were accompanied by a new US representative
Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff (Photo: ERA)

On the night of January 22-23, the Kremlin hosted a meeting of the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin with the special representative of the US President Steve Witkoff. The negotiations lasted about four hours. About this said kremlin press service.

The American delegation was introduced by the son-in-law of the US President Jared Kushner and Josh Grunbaum, Commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service of the U.S. General Services Administration. Grunbaum joined the US negotiating team with Putin for the first time. In December 2025, he attended the talks between the US and Ukrainian delegations led by Presidents Donald Trump і Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Reuters reportsthe newspaper reported that Trump recently appointed Grunbaum as a senior advisor to the "Peace Council" he created.

On the Russian side, the meeting was attended by Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov and the Russian dictator's special representative Kirill Dmitriev.

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Previously, the parties discussed the settlement of Russia's war against Ukraine, as well as Russia's participation in the Peace Council. Ushakov saidmr. Trump said that the talks were "extremely meaningful, constructive and frank." According to him, the US representatives shared with Putin "their impressions and assessments" of Trump's meeting with Zelensky in Davos, as well as other meetings held in December and January, "in Florida and a number of European capitals."

The Russian dictator's aide added that the meeting of the parties "was focused on obtaining information based on the results of the contacts of the Americans with Ukrainians and European partners." He said that during these talks "it was once again stated that without resolving the territorial issue according to the formula agreed in Anchorage, one should not expect to achieve a long-term settlement" and that "Russia will continue to achieve its goals."

The next step, says Ushakov, will be a meeting of the trilateral working group of Ukraine, the United States, and Russia, which will take place on January 23 in Abu Dhabi.

Vitkoff, Kushner, and the American team are to meet on Friday with a Russian delegation headed by General Igor Kostyukov, director of Russia's GRU intelligence agency.

This meeting will be the first time that representatives of the three countries will sit at the same table since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Zelensky notedhe said that these talks would be held at the "technical level".

REFERENCE
According to data on the US General Services Administration (GSA) portal, updated at the end of February 2025, Josh Grunbaum has extensive experience in law and the corporate sector. Prior to joining the Trump team, he specialized in investment management, asset restructuring, and mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Mr. Grunbaum is a licensed attorney with an MBA and is admitted to the New York State Bar.
  • Previous negotiations Witkoff and Putin took place on December 2, 2025. They lasted almost five hours. And the day before, US representatives talked with Zelensky and the Europeans.
  • on January 22, 2026, Vitkoff said in Davos that a number of issues had been resolved in the peace talks between Ukraine and Russia narrow down to one.