US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner made their first official visit to Ukraine on Sunday as part of fresh efforts toward peace with Russia.
As Ukraine’s airspace remains closed due to the conflict, the pair arrived in Kyiv by train from Poland, having spent more than three hours in talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow a day earlier.
Putin had declared a three-day ceasefire to ensure the envoys’ safety.
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Zelenskyy: Ukraine’s peace proposals are ready
Ahead of the visit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on social media that Kyiv is ready for a “constructive” discussion with its US counterparts.
“We are interested in bringing the end of the war closer,” he wrote. “Peace is needed. Security guarantees are needed. A just and sustainable postwar peace is needed. Our proposals are prepared.”
Reuters news agency reported that national security advisors from the United Kingdom, France and Germany were also in Kyiv for talks with the US envoys, citing a source familiar with the matter.
Momentum by US President Donald Trump to end the four-and-a-half-year-old conflict has stalled in recent months after talks with Putin at the Kremlin in January failed to produce a result.
Ukraine’s Budanov expects war to continue for many months
Despite hopes of a breakthrough with the Russian leader on Saturday, there were no announcements after the meeting.
Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov described the Moscow talks as constructive, frank, and useful but didn’t discuss specific outcomes.
Ushakov said the talks also focused on economic issues and potentially large Russia-US projects.
During previous talks, negotiators have struggled to bring both sides together on a range of key issues, including the future of the industrial Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
For Ukraine, hard security guarantees from its European allies and Washington are crucial to deterring Russia from further aggression.
Kyrylo Budanov, Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, told the New York Times last weekend that he did not expect the fighting to end before spring 2027.
He also predicted further Russian strategic air strikes on Ukraine this winter.
The war has escalated in recent months, with Putin seeking the complete conquest of Dombas and Russian drones targeting the Ukrainian capital.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has focused its drone attacks on Russia’s energy sector. It has also targeted online retailers deep inside Russia to try and bring the war home to the public.
Edited by: Darko Janjevic
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