Witkoff and Kushner meet Zelensky in Kyiv for second leg of US diplomacy push
KYIV, Ukraine — United States peace envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff heralded new momentum in peace talks after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday in Kyiv as the Trump administration renewed its push to end Russia's 4-year-old war in Ukraine.
Kushner and Witkoff traveled from Moscow, where they held three hours of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday but did not appear to secure a breakthrough in the conflict.
Witkoff, President Donald Trump's envoy, said they "heard new ideas" in Moscow, which they did not detail, and they hoped a new round of U.S.-mediated Ukraine-Russia talks would be announced "in short order."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, welcomes U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, center, and U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, on Sunday in Kyiv.
Zelenskyy praised the "very substantive" conversation with Witkoff and Kushner and said Ukraine was ready for trilateral talks. He said he also discussed air defense supplies and energy support for Ukraine ahead of winter, with Russia expected to bomb Ukraine's power grid again.
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Previous rounds of U.S.-mediated peace talks encouraged by Trump, who campaigned on a promise to quickly end the war, have yielded few results. He suggested Friday that the U.S. had a fresh proposal, though he did not elaborate.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov described Saturday's meeting as "highly useful," while a White House official told Reuters that next steps would be announced in the coming weeks.
"We made a lot of progress in Moscow," Witkoff told reporters Sunday in Kyiv, adding that he was "very encouraged" by his conversations with the Ukrainian team.
The Ukrainian president, who believes Washington will be key to a peace deal, has said a window of opportunity to make peace exists before the U.S. begins focusing on its next presidential election in 2028.
The U.S. envoys held several hours of talks with Ukrainian officials. British, French and German national security advisers, who were also in Kyiv, joined for the final hour. The U.S.-Ukrainian discussions were due to continue Sunday evening.
During a break, Zelenskyy said officials discussed the possibility of security and economic guarantees for Kyiv, as well as a post-war "prosperity plan."
"In the last 10 to 12 months, I believe we have got stronger," Zelenskyy said, adding that the U.S. and Europe noted this.
Witkoff and Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, have visited Moscow several times in their roles as peace envoys. But Sunday was their first visit to Kyiv in their capacity as U.S. negotiators.
Their visit was long sought by Ukraine's leadership, and on the streets of Kyiv, which has been bombarded heavily in recent weeks, some residents were hopeful.
"The issue can be solved in the blink of an eye. We want peace," said military veteran Stepan Yermak. "I've fought myself, so I know what war is like. We need peace, because there's no other way."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, pointing at right, sits across from U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, during a meeting Sunday in Kyiv.
In previous talks, the sides remained far apart on key issues, including the future of the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas. Russia has demanded Ukraine's withdrawal from a belt of towns that it still controls there, but Kyiv has refused, reasoning that it can still hold on.
"The question of Donbas ... I believe, is the question of this war," Zelenskyy told reporters Sunday.
For Ukraine, hard security guarantees from its European allies and the U.S. are crucial to deterring Russia from invading again. Although he said the issue had been discussed, Zelenskyy did not detail if progress was made.
Though the front lines of the ground war remain largely static, both Russian and Ukrainian forces have intensified long-range air strikes in recent weeks.
Russia pounded the Ukrainian capital day and night with missiles and drones for the past two weeks, including an attack Friday on the headquarters of the SBU security service.
The Kremlin said it would pause strikes on Kyiv until Monday, while Zelenskyy said Ukraine would also halt strikes on Moscow.
There was no let-up in fighting along the 750-mile front, however, and Russia bombarded other Ukrainian cities on Saturday.
Ukraine inflicted damaging hits throughout the summer on Russian refineries, oil terminals and the warehouses of online retailer Wildberries, in an attempt to raise the cost to Moscow of continuing the war.
Ukraine said Sunday it struck the Ryazan oil refinery, about 300 miles inside Russia, overnight, causing a fire.
