US peace envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have described talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv as encouraging, as Washington seeks to revive efforts to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The meeting on Sunday followed more than three hours of discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow the previous day. The American delegation travelled on to Kyiv for its first visit to Ukraine in its capacity as a negotiating team.
Witkoff said the discussions with Ukrainian officials had been “substantive, important” and that the envoys were “very encouraged”. The first session lasted about three hours and was followed by a working lunch.
Zelenskiy said the talks covered the territorial dispute, long-term security guarantees and economic backing for Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction. He maintained that the most difficult territorial questions could be settled only by the leaders themselves.
“Security guarantees are needed. A dignified post-war peace is needed. Our proposals have been drawn up,” the Ukrainian president said before the talks.
He also said that a strong Ukrainian military would remain “one of the main guarantees of security” and confirmed that a further meeting involving Ukraine, the United States and European countries had been agreed, although no location had yet been chosen.
British, French and German national security advisers were in Kyiv on Sunday for discussions expected to involve European representatives. Zelenskiy said the next stage of negotiations would focus on securing a lasting peace and preventing any renewed Russian aggression.
Witkoff said the United States was pursuing “a diplomatic resolution to this conflict, not a kinetic resolution”. He added that the Moscow meeting had generated “new ideas” which were subsequently taken to Kyiv, but warned that both sides would have to make compromises.
“We think we have the ingredients to get to that place,” he said.
The Kremlin described the talks with Putin as highly useful, while a White House official said further steps would be announced in the coming weeks. No breakthrough was announced after the Moscow meeting.
The diplomatic effort is unfolding as Russian and Ukrainian forces continue to intensify long-range attacks. Russia has struck Kyiv with missiles and drones for much of the past two weeks, including an attack on the headquarters of Ukraine’s SBU security service.
Moscow said it would pause strikes on Kyiv until Monday, while Zelenskiy said Ukraine would also halt attacks on the Russian capital during the talks.
