Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky held talks in Kyiv with special representatives of Donald Trump, who had previously visited Moscow. At a press conference after the meeting, its participants said that Jared Kushner and Steven Witkoff brought some “new ideas” to the Ukrainian capital regarding ways to end the war, but did not specify what exactly they were.
The visit of Kushner and Witkoff to Kyiv was the first during the war. Before that, Witkoff met eight times with Russian President Vladimir Putin, including three times with the US President's son-in-law Kushner.
This summer, the United States stated that Washington’s previous ideas regarding establishing peace in Ukraine (including those voiced during Putin’s meeting with Trump in Anchorage) did not work, and new proposals are now required.
Participants in the current negotiations say that such ideas have indeed emerged, but do not talk about their essence.
“There were several new ideas, we talked them through. Give us the opportunity to deeply analyze this, to understand what the details are, what steps might be taken, and whether this will bring us closer to peace. And then we will talk to society,” Zelensky said at a press conference, which took place opposite the Mariinsky Palace in the center of Kyiv, a few meters from the Verkhovna Rada building.
Witkoff said that the parties are preparing a new meeting in a trilateral format, that is, with the participation of delegations from Ukraine, the United States and Russia. Several such summits have already taken place over the past year, but they were suspended in February after the outbreak of the US and Israeli war against Iran.
“I think that in Moscow we have made great progress. We heard new ideas,” Witkoff said. “We heard that President Zelensky spoke about a trilateral meeting, which we hope will be announced soon. There were many different convincing ideas that we discussed in Moscow and brought here to Kyiv.”
“Both sides need to compromise. To reduce differences between them. We think we have the ingredients to get to this point," Trump's special envoy added.
What kind of ideas can we talk about?
Judging by previous statements by the parties, the main immediate obstacle to the cessation of hostilities remains the issue of control over Donbass. Russia insists on the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the entire territory of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions (the Russian army managed to capture the last one almost completely), but Kyiv does not agree with this.
After Putin’s next meeting with Witkoff and Kushner, Russian presidential adviser Yuri Ushakov said that “Russia intends to achieve its goals [in Ukraine]” and that for a settlement it is necessary to eliminate the “root causes of the conflict.”
When speaking about “root causes,” Moscow officials usually refer to a range of political demands, from the status of the Russian language and the Russian Orthodox Church to Kyiv’s desire to join NATO.
During the press conference, Zelensky was asked whether the Donbass problem appears in the new American proposals.
“The Donbass issue is not just a Donbass issue. Between us, I believe that this is the issue of this war. “Wars of both survival and attrition,” answered the President of Ukraine. “And this territorial issue is the goal of the Russian side.”
Zelensky added that over the past year, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been able to strengthen their positions on the battlefield, thanks to which Kyiv can negotiate peace. “Our guys are great for giving diplomacy an opportunity. Without a strong Ukrainian position on the battlefield there will only be ultimatums. And today diplomacy is possible,” he said.
Meanwhile, Britain's Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the negotiations, that "the Americans brought updated versions of previous documents, which were revised to take into account circumstances that changed after negotiations stalled in February."
“As these people said, the two ambassadors brought few new ideas and were only trying to revive previous proposals and reduce differences between Kiev and Moscow,” the publication said. The publication notes that the main issue is still “the territory of Donbass remaining under Ukrainian control.”
In addition, according to the FT's sources, the two sides were generally in agreement that the war was unlikely to end before winter - although Zelensky and his team are hopeful of some progress in the coming months - and discussed how to help Ukraine survive Russian attacks on infrastructure.
The American publication Axios wrote on the same topic, citing its own sources, that Witkoff and Kushner said at the meeting that they wanted to achieve a breakthrough before winter.
Analysis: why did they come and what Zelensky answered the BBC question
Svyatoslav Khomenko, BBC correspondent in Ukraine:
Vladimir Zelensky and his American guests provided extremely little specifics regarding today’s meeting - and this is probably understandable. But we can draw some general conclusions about it.
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner said that during yesterday's meeting with Vladimir Putin, some new ideas were voiced that could speed up the end of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Vladimir Zelensky also said that the Americans brought some new ideas to Kyiv. But all the main characters of today’s negotiations refused to say what these new ideas are. Like, they need to be analyzed, thought about, and seen whether they can be developed and, if so, in what direction. In short, no evidence was presented that these ideas even exist.
It seems that the main goal of Witkoff and Kushner’s voyage to Moscow and Kyiv is to try to give new breath to the trilateral (Ukraine, Russia, USA) peace process, which, after the start of the Iranian war, Donald Trump can hardly be called anything but dead.
Now, in theory, the American president’s envoys will return to Washington and share their findings - and then it will become clearer how realistic it is to organize a new round of negotiations. The Americans, at least in words, are convinced that there is a solution to the problem of finding a formula for sustainable peace in this war.
Zelensky, of course, thanks them for not stopping the search, but immediately adds: the war will probably continue in the winter, so it’s worth talking to the Americans not only about a wonderful peaceful future, but also about a specific aid package for Ukraine for this winter.
Another important detail is that it seems that the peace process carried out by Witkoff and Kushner is being watched by journalists, including American ones (and even publications loyal to Trump) with increasing frustration.
A question from Dmitry Gordon addressed to Steve Witkoff - aren’t you ashamed to sit next to the executioner of the Ukrainian people, Vladimir Putin - this is a rather predictable story. But the question from the completely pro-Trump Newsmax - isn’t it time to admit that negotiations with Russia are leading nowhere, and isn’t it time to really start putting pressure on Moscow - this is already a symptomatic thing.
Of course, Witkoff and Kushner answer such questions in a long, convoluted and flowery way: talking is better than not talking, peace is better than war, and so on in the same spirit. But the lack of a substantive answer to such questions should worry Trump's emissaries, especially as special elections for Congress approach.
Today's negotiations in Kyiv are unlikely to be included in history books as historical. In the best case scenario, we can expect them to begin a new series of complex, sticky peace negotiations - many are already ready to call it doomed to failure. But Vladimir Zelensky is convinced that Ukraine will enter this new series much stronger than a year ago.
Apparently, that’s why, when he heard my question about whether it was in vain that the American negotiators came to Kyiv this time, he smiled radiantly and answered: “It was not in vain.”
So far the only result is a cessation of shelling
Before Witkoff and Kushner’s visit to Kyiv, Russia promised to stop attacks on the Ukrainian capital for three days. Ukraine, in turn, also pledged not to strike Moscow while representatives of the US President were there.
Russia has sharply increased its attacks on Kyiv in recent weeks, including with ballistic missiles and new jet-powered suicide drones. Such raids often do not stop throughout the day and continue for several days in a row.
At a press conference, Zelensky joked that Witkoff and Kushner's visit would help Ukraine's air defense.
“Today we worked even better than the Patriot systems for our citizens who are in the capital,” said the President of Ukraine. - Thank you, come more often. And we will have the opportunity for our people to live a little.”
He also said that during the visit he discussed with US representatives the problem of the lack of missiles for the American Patriot air defense systems - the only ones capable of effectively shooting down ballistic missiles. Ukraine says it has a severe shortage of interceptor missiles, making its cities much more vulnerable to Russian strikes.
According to Zelensky, in the near future Ukraine will create its own system to combat ballistic weapons; it also expects to purchase American missiles for the Patriots, the production of which will be increased.
Isn't it embarrassing to meet Putin? What else happened at the press conference
Witkoff also said that he really liked Ukrainian trains. Like other representatives of other states, he arrived in Kyiv by train, which he transferred to after a flight to Rzeszow, Poland.
“I would like to disagree with one statement by President Zelensky. I not only liked the train, I was absolutely delighted with it! Witkoff said. “It reminded me of the times I took the train to visit my grandmother in Florida.” Jared and I had a great time."
