KYIV: US presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Sunday, hours after holding three hours of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow as Washington renewed efforts to end the war.
The Kyiv visit was the first by Witkoff and Kushner in their roles as US peace negotiators. Zelensky said Ukraine had prepared proposals for a settlement but stressed that any agreement would require credible long-term security guarantees.
Witkoff described the initial talks in Kyiv as “substantive” and said the US delegation was encouraged by the discussions. British, French and German national security advisers were also in the Ukrainian capital for further negotiations involving European representatives.
The envoys travelled to Kyiv after meeting Putin in Moscow on Saturday. The Kremlin described those discussions as useful, although they produced no immediate breakthrough.
Russia and Ukraine have temporarily halted attacks on each other’s capitals during the diplomatic effort. Moscow said it would suspend strikes on Kyiv until Monday, while Zelensky said Ukraine would refrain from attacking Moscow. Fighting elsewhere along the roughly 1,200-kilometre front, however, has continued.
Major differences also remain over territory. Russia is demanding Ukrainian withdrawal from areas of the Donbas still controlled by Kyiv, while Ukraine has rejected surrendering territory its forces continue to hold.
The latest diplomatic push comes after weeks of intensified missile and drone attacks, increasing pressure for a settlement to the four-and-a-half-year war.