Trump's top envoys head to Moscow and Kyiv as Putin steps up round the clock bombing of Ukraine. With the U.S. distracted by Iran, is Putin becoming increasingly emboldened?
President Trump says he's reviving efforts to end Russia's war in Ukraine. He dispatched his two top envoys, Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, for talks aimed at ending the conflict. They arrived in Moscow today, according to Russian state media.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Two great negotiators. They've done a great job, and we sent them over to see whether or not we can get something done. And there may be a good chance that we'll do it.
SIMON: And they're expected to later travel to Kyiv. NPR's Charles Maynes joins us from Moscow. Charles, thanks so much for being with us.
CHARLES MAYNES, BYLINE: Good morning, Scott.
SIMON: What do we know about the timing of the visit?
MAYNES: Well, you know, we've been hearing rumors of Witkoff and Kushner coming all summer, only to see the trip repeatedly pushed back. And, of course, these two have been busy, deeply involved with negotiations over Iran, Israel and the war in Gaza, but their reengagement on Ukraine now comes as some things are changing with Russia's war.
Keep in mind, CIA director John Ratcliffe was recently in Moscow for a brief visit with his Russian counterparts in the intelligence community. Presumably, Ukraine was part of those discussions. So it could be there's a new diplomatic window here, but the prevailing view is that the U.S. is concerned this conflict is about to escalate even further than it already has.
MAYNES: Well, with the front lines essentially stalled, both sides have turned to air attacks to inflict maximum damage on the other. That's meant near-daily Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian energy and logistics infrastructure here that's caused, for example, widespread gas shortages. And Russia, meanwhile, is openly promising another winter of misery for Ukraine, vowing to dismantle its energy infrastructure entirely, something they really can do almost at will now that Kyiv is low on U.S.-made interceptors like the Patriot missiles.
So both sides are also, I should say, hacking away at the other's ability to export grain through the Black Sea region. That's raised concerns about global food shortages as we head into the winter months. And if that's not bad enough, there's also a possible new front in Europe with NATO allies increasingly angry over alleged Russian hybrid attacks and sabotage that risk the war spilling beyond Ukraine.
SIMON: Charles, why would Russia want to provoke NATO?
MAYNES: Well, Russian President Vladimir Putin insists they don't, and that this is all kind of anti-Russian hype by European politicians, even though he has threatened to respond to European military aid to Ukraine.
And clearly, something is going on. I mean, there's been a spate of sabotage and cyberattack incidents across Europe, even most recently, a failed drone attack on a German airport. And if, indeed, these incidents are sponsored by Russia – and, for example, the Germans now openly say the airport incident was – they present a challenge, because these attacks are seemingly not enough to trigger a military response by NATO, but they still undermine European security.
So how to diffuse the situation? Well, enter Witkoff and Kushner, perhaps, two figures that Putin has made clear are welcome in Moscow.
SIMON: What do you think they can expect?
