American envoys discussed "substantive plans" for next steps to end the Ukraine war during their meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the White House said, before they headed to Kyiv on Sunday.

US President Donald Trump's business partner Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner visited Moscow in hopes of reviving negotiations to end Europe's worst conflict since WWII.

The conflict began when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and has already killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions. It escalated this summer with a drastic rise in civilian deaths on both sides.

Witkoff and Kushner met with Putin on Saturday to "advance President Trump's agenda of peace in the Russia-Ukraine War," a White House official said in a statement to AFP.