Talks between U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, and Russian President Vladimir Putin are underway in Moscow after two days of U.S.-led discussions between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Abu Dhabi yielded no major breakthroughs.
Putin's special representative Kirill Dmitriev welcomed the envoys and shared footage of their arrival Thursday morning. At the start of the meeting, Putin asked the U.S. representatives to “convey gratitude” to President Donald Trump for “organizing contacts between Russia and Ukraine,” Russian media reported.
Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, said the meeting with Putin would focus on the outcome of the Abu Dhabi discussions, which concluded Wednesday with plans for another prisoner exchange, but no concrete steps toward ending the war.
"We see some openings and some opportunities," Kushner told reporters. "We've relayed to President Putin directly several times and to his team, that the only way to get this done is to have them by our side. And I think they're receptive to it.”
When the Moscow meeting concludes, Witkoff and Kushner are set to travel to Dublin to brief Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on any developments from the talks. Zelensky is among the dozens of world leaders in the Irish capital for the European Political Community summit.
Zelensky expressed optimism about the next round of negotiations, saying there is a "window of opportunity” to reach a peace deal with Russia.
“There really is this window of opportunity, when all the participants involved in this negotiating process could get the result by the beginning of 2027,” he said, speaking alongside Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Micheál Martin during a press conference in Dublin.
Although Russian and Ukrainian negotiators reported some progress during this week's Abu Dhabi talks, all sides have acknowledged that significant differences remain, particularly over territory.
Kyiv has strongly rejected Putin's demands to surrender the entirety of the eastern Donbas. With negotiations over territory deadlocked, U.S. mediators have instead sought to steer discussions toward post-war security guarantees and reconstruction.
Bringing European representatives into future negotiations could also prove challenging. Kremlin aide Vladimir Medinsky, who led Russia's delegation in Abu Dhabi, was critical of any European involvement.
"As for the position of the leadership of a number of European countries, they are essentially collectively deceiving the Ukrainian people,” he said, according to Russian state media outlet TASS. “They are financing and supplying weapons to one of the warring parties, thereby essentially contributing to the mass deaths of civilians."
Despite the major obstacles that remain, Trump has expressed optimism about ending the war—a goal he had previously claimed would be achieved on his first day back in office in 2025. “We're seeing a very strong inclination to end Russia and Ukraine (war),” the President insisted during a press conference Monday.
Ireland's Prime Minister Micheal Martin and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky hold a press conference in Dublin on Nov. 11, 2026. —Paul Faith––AFP/Getty ImagesZelensky says Starshield service is once again restricted
As Witkoff and Kushner were meeting Russian officials in Moscow, Zelensky raised concerns about new speed restrictions on Starshield, the military-grade sister version of Elon Musk’s Starlink service.
Zelensky said the Ukrainian military was facing "systematic" restrictions to Starshield and, as a result, struggling to intercept Russian drones. "This is helping the Russians kill more Ukrainians and carry out more accurate strikes against Ukraine," he said. "We are trying to clear up all circumstances with the American side."
TIME has reached out to the White House and Space X for comment.
Starlink offers Internet connectivity from satellites in low-Earth orbit. Its sister service Starshield, a military version developed for the Pentagon, relies on the Starlink network and has become a vital component for Ukrainian forces, strengthening its far-reaching drone strike missions and air defenses.
Last month, Ukraine complained that speed restrictions had been imposed on Starshield, leading to the “failure” of several military missions. There were conflicting reports as to how the service came to be restricted.
Reuters, citing three U.S. officials, had reported that the decision to limit the service came from inside the White House.
When approached for comment, a senior U.S. official told TIME: “No such request was ever made by the President.”
When initially addressing the matter, SpaceX founder and CEO Musk insisted that Starlink and Starshield are different. He cited the U.S. authorities as being in control of the latter’s usage determinations.
“Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the U.S. government. Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the U.S. military and ultimately POTUS,” he said on X. “Starlink is a commercial service owned and controlled by SpaceX. Usage of Starlink is limited to civilian or defensive activities and cannot be used for offensive military action, as doing so would be inappropriate for a commercial company.”
Musk later said his company SpaceX had imposed limits on the use of its Starlink satellite system, accusing Ukraine of violating its terms of service by using it for military activity. He denied being behind the simultaneous issue with Starshield.
Kyiv denied breaching Starlink’s terms of service. “It’s very strange that Elon Musk doesn’t know about the restrictions on Starlink in Ukraine,” said Ukrainian presidential adviser Serhiy Beskrestnov via Telegram. “Starlink does not work over Russian territory. So we physically cannot use commercial Starlink for deep strikes and mid-range strikes.”
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