CIA director John Ratcliffe is preparing to take a bigger role in US negotiations with Russia and Ukraine, US officials have told their European counterparts, in a bid to jump-start moribund diplomatic efforts to end the four-and-a-half-year-long war. 

The move comes as the White House is considering paring back the involvement of US special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who have been leading the talks with Moscow and Kyiv, according to five people familiar with the plans. 

Officials close to Ratcliffe have told European peers that he will play a larger role in shuttle diplomacy between Russia and Ukraine — which is currently the purview of Witkoff and Kushner — while maintaining contact with intelligence officers in both countries. 

Liz Lyons, CIA director of public affairs, said: “This reporting is false.” People close to the situation said Trump has not made a final decision.

The telegraphed switch away from Witkoff has enthused European capitals desperate to see some progress after a year and a half of largely fruitless talks with Russia, which have stalled as President Vladimir Putin has refused to budge on his hardline demands.

The US administration has considered shaking up its negotiating team after US-led efforts to broker a peace deal foundered in late February, according to two people involved in back-channel talks to end the war. That diplomatic effort was put on hold as the Trump administration was preoccupied with the war in Iran, which broke out shortly after the last US-led round of Ukraine talks.

The White House said in a statement: “This entire story is totally fake news . . . None of these supposed conversations are happening. Special envoy Witkoff and Jared Kushner continue to work incredibly hard towards a peace agreement, and the President trusts them fully to lead negotiations on behalf of the United States.”

Witkoff, a close friend of Trump, would likely retain his current role as US special envoy for peace missions, which includes negotiations in the Middle East, according to people familiar with the matter. The billionaire real estate investor could also remain involved in Ukraine in parallel to Ratcliffe, they added.

Two of the people said there was a tug of war under way between Ratcliffe and Witkoff about who leads on what.

Witkoff’s freewheeling approach, bypassing the strictures of traditional diplomacy in favour of direct contacts more reminiscent of a New York real estate deal, has frustrated Russia, Ukraine and Kyiv’s western allies.

Ukraine felt that Witkoff had not done enough to pressure Putin to moderate his demands. Russia believed Witkoff shared part of the blame for the failure of a summit with Trump in Alaska last year to achieve a breakthrough, according to Ukrainian officials and people briefed on the Kremlin’s thinking.

Putin has praised Witkoff’s efforts, but Moscow has also quietly indicated it would be open to a new US approach, according to people involved in back-channel talks.

The White House also considered appointing a new US ambassador to Moscow this spring in the hope of opening another channel with Russia, according to people familiar with the matter.

Ratcliffe made a surprise visit to Moscow in late August, and discussed the wars in Ukraine and Iran, as well as Russia’s “hybrid” threats to Europe, with senior intelligence officials, according to people familiar with the matter. Trump downplayed Ratcliffe’s visit to Moscow as “sort of semi-routine”.

But Ukrainian intelligence briefed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week that Ratcliffe’s visit to Moscow indicated he was stepping in to take a more prominent role in US efforts to end Russia’s invasion, people familiar with the matter said.

Putin had initially planned to meet Ratcliffe, according to two people familiar with the matter. The Russian president then backed out after Ratcliffe delivered a downbeat assessment of Moscow’s war effort to senior Russian intelligence officials. Russian independent news site Agentstvo first reported that Putin had cancelled a planned meeting with Ratcliffe.

Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesperson, told the FT no meeting between Putin and Ratcliffe had been planned. Trump and Putin did not discuss a potential change in the US negotiating team when they spoke by phone on Tuesday, he added.

The week after Ratcliffe’s trip to Moscow, Witkoff and Kushner flew to meet Putin in Moscow and Zelenskyy in Kyiv.

Their visit — Witkoff’s eighth trip to Russia — was in part an effort to retain the Ukraine brief, according to two people familiar with the matter.

After their visits, Witkoff and Kushner said they were optimistic the US, Russia and Ukraine could resume trilateral talks suspended since February.

But people familiar with the talks in Moscow and Kyiv told the FT that the Americans brought few new ideas and that Putin showed little indication he was prepared to back down from his earlier demands.

“You can’t solve this by dipping in and out,” one of the people said. “It’s a very complex conflict. You need properly organised, full-time work on every issue. Right now that’s not happening.”

Yuri Ushakov, the Kremlin’s top foreign policy official, said on state television on Tuesday that Putin told Trump the US could secure an immediate ceasefire by ending all support for Ukraine — in effect letting Russia win.

At the same time, Kushner has told friends he expects to move on from Ukraine and would prefer to focus on diplomatic efforts related to the conflict in Gaza and the US-Israeli war against Iran.

Three senior Ukrainian officials said Kyiv had good working relations with Ratcliffe as well as Witkoff and Kushner and had no preference for who Trump appointed to lead the US efforts.

“We’re OK with [Ratcliffe], and with Jared and Steve too,” said one of the Ukrainian officials. “The problem is the Russians.”

Additional reporting by Anne-Sylvaine Chassany in Berlin

This story has been amended to include the White House statement.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said it had prevented a series of planned attacks targeting schools in central and southern regions that involved minors who were allegedly recruited by Russian operatives.

The SBU and the National Police said two local school students were identified in the Kirovohrad and Odesa regions, where they were allegedly preparing attacks on their own schools.

According to the SBU’s Thursday press release, the minors were recruited through Telegram and TikTok channels used by Russian intelligence to target young people. One such channel, identified as “ETERSSA,” was described as part of a broader effort to systematically recruit Ukrainian minors.

Authorities said recruiters used psychological manipulation, including promises of achieving “justice,” protecting relatives, or punishing alleged wrongdoing, to draw the students into criminal activity.

In the Kirovohrad region, a 15-year-old student was allegedly instructed to assemble an improvised explosive device (IED) using commonly available materials. The plan, according to the SBU, involved detonating the device inside his school during a break between classes.

The agency said he was also instructed to bring a firearm and a knife to attack survivors after the explosion.

The SBU said it intervened before the attacks and documented the suspect’s communication with his Russian handler. During a search, authorities recovered an IED, components used to build it, a firearm, and digital evidence.

In a separate case in the Odesa region, another student was identified at the recruitment stage. Authorities said Russian operatives had planned to send him a package containing a firearm and a knife, allegedly intended for use in an attack on fellow students.

The agency said the minors were also encouraged to take their own lives afterward in what it described as Russia’s attempt to eliminate witnesses.

The 15-year-old suspect in the Kirovohrad region has been served a notice of suspicion – a legal step in Ukraine preceding formal charges – for plotting a terrorist act. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison with confiscation of property.

The SBU said the investigation is ongoing.

President Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Kyiv on Sunday for diplomatic talks aimed at resuming negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.

Why it matters: Kushner and Witkoff traveled to Kyiv right after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. This is Witkoff and Kushner's first trip to Ukraine despite months of negotiating with both sides and multiple trips to Russia.

• Sunday also marked the highest-level visit by a U.S. official to Ukraine since Trump started his second term.

Driving the news: U.S. and Russian officials offered positive assessments of Kushner and Witkoff's three-hour meeting with Putin on Saturday.

• "Kushner and Witkoff are making an effort, and we are making progress," a Russian official said.
• A White House official said Witkoff, Kushner and Putin discussed "plans for next steps, which will be announced in the coming weeks."
• Witkoff, Kushner and their team left Moscow on Saturday night, landed several hours later in Poland, and then traveled by land to Kyiv.

Zoom in: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed Ukrainian preparations for continuing the war through the winter, a source familiar with the meetings said. Kushner and Witkoff stressed they want a breakthrough before winter, the source said.

• Zelensky later confirmed that the possibility of the war continuing through the winter was discussed.
• "We very much hope that we will be able to reach agreements with our American partners, and we are counting on the support of our European partners if the war continues in winter — and this is how it appears at the moment," he said.
• Witkoff and Kushner met twice with Zelensky and his senior advisers. National security advisers from the U.K., France and Germany joined a third meeting.

• After the second meeting with Zelensky, Trump's envoys said they were "encouraged by the substantive discussion" and looked forward to making more progress.

What they're saying: A second source who participated in Sunday's talks said the meetings "went well" and that Kushner and Witkoff want to work with the parties on a "refreshed" peace proposal.

• "Things may move in a good direction if there's a follow-up by all parties involved," the source said.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional details throughout.