Zelensky announces visit of US mediators Witkoff and Kushner to Kiev

Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced a visit by US mediators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Kiev on Sunday. It was discussed today that Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will first visit Moscow and travel to Kiev on Sunday, Zelenskyj said in a video message. Ukraine is preparing for this.

When asked by reporters at the White House, US President Donald Trump confirmed that he had sent his two negotiators. He did not give any specific dates. They would bring a proposal to end the Ukraine war, Trump said - also in this case, without going into details. “We sent them there to see if we could achieve something.” As with his country's previous mediation efforts in the war, Trump was optimistic that this could succeed. However, a real breakthrough has not yet been achieved.

Zelensky announced that Kiev, “as it has been during previous diplomatic visits from the US side,” ensures the normal operation of Russian airspace for the visit. There will be no air strikes from the Ukrainian side; Russia must react in a mirror image, he said.

There had previously been unconfirmed reports that US special envoy Witkoff and US President Trump's son-in-law Kushner were planning to travel to Moscow on Saturday and to Kiev on Sunday.

The New York Times, citing officials familiar with the diplomatic effort, reported that U.S. mediators were expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin first and then Zelensky. Accordingly, negotiations about the trip dragged on for weeks. The US insisted that the Ukrainians temporarily stop their drone attacks on Moscow and the Russian energy infrastructure while Witkoff and Kushner are in Russia. The Russians must stop their missile attacks on Kyiv, the newspaper wrote.

According to the Russian state news agency Tass, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded in the afternoon when asked when Witkoff and Kushner were expected in Moscow: "I will not announce anything. When these contacts take place, we will inform about it."

Witkoff and Kushner are responsible in the Trump administration for efforts to end Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, which has been ongoing for more than four and a half years. In recent months, however, talks have been on hold because Washington has turned its attention to the war against Iran. The US mediators have visited Moscow several times since 2025 but have never been to Kiev for their mediation efforts. Washington last sat at the table as a mediator in direct negotiations between Moscow and Kiev in Switzerland in February.