U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Kyiv Sunday for the first direct talks with President Zelensky since Washington’s latest peace push, following a three-hour Moscow meeting with Vladimir Putin. Their visit follows reports of substantive but unbreakthrough talks with Russia’s leader last week.
Zelensky greeted Witkoff and Kushner at Kyiv’s Sofiiska Square and said the war will persist into winter, citing Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid. The bilateral discussions focused on winter aid, security guarantees, and Patriot missile supplies. Later, the trio joined trilateral talks with U.K., France, and Germany officials, without announcing next steps.
The talks underscore Washington’s ongoing push for a negotiated end to the war, though Kyiv’s emphasis on security guarantees and a dignified postwar settlement risks complicating trilateral negotiations. European support remains critical, but Russia’s refusal to abandon its demands—such as a ceasefire and NATO guarantees—has so far stymied progress. No major breakthrough emerged.
Kushner framed the visit as a step toward ‘long-term, durable peace,’ while Zelensky’s gift of a ‘Kyiv Regime’ T-shirt to the envoys—mocking Kremlin rhetoric—highlighted Kyiv’s assertive stance. Witkoff called talks ‘substantive,’ but no trilateral or bilateral agreement was announced, leaving open whether Moscow will accept Ukraine’s winter aid demands.