Kathrine Frich
The cheeky gesture directly mocked Vladimir Putin.
High-stakes international diplomacy usually involves dark suits, stern faces, and carefully scripted statements.
Yet every so often, a pinch of political humor breaks through the solemn atmosphere.
That is precisely what happened when American envoys arrived in Ukraine after leaving the Kremlin.
A sarcastic gift
US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner traveled to Kyiv on Sunday following a high-profile stop in Moscow. According to WP, they sat down for a second round of peace negotiations aimed at ending the war.
The meeting took an unexpected turn when Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia greeted the Americans. He showed up wearing a T-shirt stamped with the words “Kyiv Regime.”
The Ukrainian team then handed identical T-shirts to Kushner and Witkoff as a personal gift.
The cheeky gesture directly mocked Vladimir Putin. Just a day earlier in Moscow, the Russian leader had lectured the same envoys about a sinister “Kiev regime” that would finally “stop hiding its true nature.”
European allies join
Beyond the fashion statement, serious diplomatic work continued in the capital. Ukrainian media reported that the second round of discussions with the White House team wrapped up on Sunday evening.
The diplomatic process will soon expand significantly. Representatives from Great Britain, France, and Germany are expected to join the next phase of talks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky took to social media to state his commitment to finding a solution.
He wrote on X, “We are ready to talk. Ukraine has always been and will remain constructive. We want to bring the end of the war closer. We need peace. We need security guarantees. We need a dignified post-war peace. Our proposals are ready. It is important to work in a coordinated, substantive, and realistic manner.”
Stopping in Moscow
The Kyiv summit came immediately after the American team visited Moscow on Saturday. During that trip, the envoys met behind closed doors with Putin and his senior advisers.
Russian officials described those discussions in glowing terms. Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters that the talks were “constructive, extremely frank, and based on trust.”
He added that the American delegation presented “a number of ideas” for reaching an agreement. Meanwhile, Russian financial chief Kirill Dmitriev called the trip an “important peace visit.”
Now, with European powers stepping into the room, the talks move into a much broader phase.
Sources: WP, PAP, NEXTA, Ukrainska Pravda
