Kushner and Witkoff in the Kremlin: Trump's Shadow Diplomacy Leaves Europe on the Sidelines
Marathon overnight talks with Putin highlight Washington's willingness to negotiate Ukraine's future without its European allies at the table. The EU responds with action: 90 billion euros in aid and a French Navy strike on a Russian tanker.
Jared Kushner and Steven Witkoff met Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on Wednesday for nearly four hours of overnight talks, as the Trump administration accelerates its backroom diplomacy with Moscow while European allies watch from the sidelines.
Kirill Dmitriev, Putin's envoy who participated in the meeting, posted photos of the delegation at the Senate Palace. The US team included Josh Gruenbaum, a senior adviser on Trump's Board of Peace. The Kremlin described the talks as "frank, constructive" and "fruitful."
This was not the envoys' first visit. According to Bloomberg, Witkoff has met Putin six times in the past year. He and Kushner held a five-hour meeting with the Russian president in December, though no breakthroughs emerged.
Territorial Demands Remain Non-Negotiable
Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov, who participated in the meeting, made Moscow's position clear. According to Euronews, he stated that reaching a settlement "can't be expected without solving the territorial issue."
Russia continues to demand that Ukraine withdraw from areas Moscow illegally annexed but never fully captured. Until then, Ushakov said, Russia would "continue to consistently pursue the objectives on the battlefield."
The message was unmistakable: Putin will keep bombing while talking peace.
Europe Watches from the Sidelines
European officials have grown accustomed to being bypassed. When the US presented its peace plan, it was "refined" in Geneva with Ukrainian diplomats. European governments learned details only after the fact. According to RFE/RL, European officials managed to remove some language about Ukrainian EU and NATO membership from the original draft.
Putin has seized on the transatlantic tension. He recently accused European allies of being "on the side of war" and claimed they were adding "demands that are absolutely unacceptable to Russia" to peace proposals.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov went further. According to PBS News, he declared that Europe and the EU have emerged as "the main obstacles to peace" since Trump returned to office.
This is the Kremlin playbook in action: divide Washington from Brussels, weaken the transatlantic alliance, and negotiate a deal that serves Russian interests.
What the Board of Peace Actually Offers Moscow
The envoys meeting came days after Putin announced Russia's willingness to contribute $1 billion to Trump's Board of Peace. The money would come from frozen Russian assets in the United States, estimated at around $5 billion.
The Kremlin is proposing to use funds frozen precisely because of its invasion of Ukraine to buy a seat at a "peace" table. Trump reportedly welcomed the idea. "If he's using his money, that's great," the president said.
Britain has declined to join the board. UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper expressed concern that Putin was among those invited. No major European ally has signed on, though Hungary joined alongside Morocco, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, and Argentina.
Europe's Response: Action Over Words
While American envoys chatted in the Kremlin, Europe demonstrated a different approach to Russia. French President Emmanuel Macron announced that the French Navy had boarded a Russian oil tanker in the Mediterranean suspected of sanctions violations and flying a false flag.
The EU has committed 90 billion euros to Ukraine for 2026 and 2027, with roughly two-thirds allocated to military assistance. This brings total European support to over 216 billion euros since the invasion began. As we have reported, European leaders continue to back concrete action over diplomatic theater.
France, the UK, and Ukraine have signed a declaration of intent for a multinational peacekeeping force. The commitment stands in contrast to the American approach of informal envoys meeting Russian officials without European partners in the room.
What Comes Next
A trilateral meeting involving Russian, Ukrainian, and US officials was scheduled for Friday in the UAE. The Russian delegation would be led by military intelligence chief Igor Kostyukov. Dmitriev planned to hold separate economic talks with Witkoff.
Witkoff expressed optimism. "This is the most important endeavor that Jared and I have," he said. "I think we're going to get it done."
European leaders have reason for skepticism. The pattern is familiar: Moscow talks peace while its forces continue to strike Ukrainian infrastructure. According to UN reporting, Russia launched over 200 attack drones on New Year's Day alone. A massive strike on January 13 involved nearly 300 drones, 18 ballistic missiles, and seven cruise missiles.
The lesson is one Europe has learned repeatedly: Russian peace offers arrive alongside Russian missiles. Backroom deals with American real estate investors will not change that equation.
The EU's consistent position remains clear. As European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated at Davos: "Ukraine must be in a position of strength to go to the negotiation table." Europe is providing the 90 billion euros to make that possible.
Whether Washington's shadow diplomacy helps or hinders that goal remains an open question.
January 23, 2026