US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner made their first official visit to Ukraine on Sunday as part of efforts toward peace with Russia. The pair traveled to Kyiv by train from Poland after more than three hours of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow the previous day. Putin had declared a three-day ceasefire to ensure the envoys' safety during their travel, as Ukraine's airspace remains closed due to the conflict.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media ahead of the visit that Kyiv is ready for a "constructive" discussion with its US counterparts. "We are interested in bringing the end of the war closer," he wrote. "Peace is needed. Security guarantees are needed. A just and sustainable postwar peace is needed. Our proposals are prepared."
National security advisors from the United Kingdom, France and Germany were also in Kyiv for talks with the US envoys, according to Reuters, citing a source familiar with the matter. Putin's foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov described the Moscow talks as constructive, frank, and useful but did not discuss specific outcomes. Ushakov said the talks also focused on economic issues and potentially large Russia-US projects.
The diplomatic push came after momentum from US President Donald Trump to end the four-and-a-half-year-old conflict stalled in recent months. Talks with Putin at the Kremlin in January failed to produce a result, and despite hopes of a breakthrough on Saturday, there were no announcements after the meeting. Negotiators have previously struggled to bring both sides together on key issues, including the future of the industrial Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
Kyrylo Budanov, Zelenskyy's chief of staff, told the New York Times last weekend that he did not expect the fighting to end before spring 2027. He also predicted further Russian strategic air strikes on Ukraine this winter. The war has escalated in recent months, with Putin seeking the complete conquest of Donbas and Russian drones targeting the Ukrainian capital, while Ukraine has focused its drone attacks on Russia's energy sector.
