Christine Drews Sieger
U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv to advance peace negotiations.
American envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner landed in Kyiv on September 6 for crucial peace talks.
They met directly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss potential terms for ending the ongoing conflict.
The visit followed high-level discussions in Moscow a day earlier with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Until this trip, the U.S. representatives focused their travels heavily on meeting senior officials in the Russian capital.
According to a U.S. official who spoke to the Kyiv Independent, President Donald Trump wants a full briefing from his team before taking action.
Trump plans to call Putin first after hearing from his envoys. A separate phone conversation with Zelensky will take place shortly afterward on September 7.
Waiting for results
Diplomatic progress between the two nations stalled for months amid the U.S. war against Iran.
Earlier talks focused heavily on security guarantees, territory, and potential ceasefire terms, yet yielded very little real ground.
While the White House referred to the Moscow dialogue as containing “substantive plans for next steps,” neither party reported any significant breakthrough.
Following the sessions, Zelensky signaled that this latest diplomatic effort is unlikely to bring a swift resolution to the conflict.
At the same time, Kushner told journalists that Washington aims to revive three-way talks involving both Kyiv and Moscow.
Trump previously used direct phone calls to follow up on envoy visits to Moscow and Kyiv.
After Ukrainian representatives met with him in Mar-a-Lago in December 2025, the U.S. leader engaged in similar telephone diplomacy with both sides, The Kyiv Independent reports.
No breakthrough yet
Despite the renewed diplomatic activity, a lasting agreement remains far from certain.
Reuters reported on September 7 that the Kremlin does not rule out restarting three-way talks involving Russia, Ukraine and the United States, but said it was still too early to discuss specific dates or a venue.
The cautious response underlines the uncertainty surrounding the latest American initiative: Washington’s envoys have now met both sides, but turning those separate conversations into direct negotiations will be the next major test.
For now, the diplomatic channel appears to be reopening — but a breakthrough remains out of reach.
