American envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived this Sunday in kyiv where they are due to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after talks the day before in Moscow with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
The two men arrived by train at kyiv central station from Poland, an AFP photographer noted. This is their first visit to Ukraine since they began their mediation work aimed at finding a diplomatic solution to the war.
“No hope”
Since his return to the White House in early 2025, Donald Trump has initiated several rounds of discussions to find a way out of the war triggered by the Russian invasion of 2022, the deadliest in Europe since the Second World War. But these attempts have so far led to no tangible progress.
Yaroslav, 29, a resident of kyiv, believes that the expected visit of the two Americans is only one of “multiple diplomatic measures” already taken, and he remains skeptical. “For the moment, it does not raise any hope, there have already been so many negotiations” without peace coming, he says, without giving his last name.
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner greeted by Volodymyr Zelensky. Photo Sipa/Efrem Lukatsky
On the occasion of these new talks, Vladimir Putin decreed a cessation of strikes on kyiv for three days, from Saturday until Monday inclusive. Volodymyr Zelensky announced a halt to attacks targeting Moscow during the same period. Elsewhere in Ukraine and Russia, hostilities continue. On the night of Saturday to Sunday, Moscow attacked Ukraine with 108 drones and S8000 Banderol missiles, the Ukrainian air force reported, claiming to have shot down most of them and specifying that 11 places in the country had nevertheless been affected by these bombings.
Russian strikes
For its part, the Russian army claimed to have neutralized 258 Ukrainian drones launched at Russia last night. A fire hit a company in the city of Ryazan, according to the governor, with Russian media ASTRA saying it was a refinery. At least three civilians were injured in Ukraine in strikes overnight and early Sunday, according to local authorities, while a man was killed and a woman injured in a Ukrainian drone attack on their vehicle in Russia’s Belgorod region, according to local authorities.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky indicated that it was considered at one time that MM. Kushner and Witkoff are traveling directly from Moscow to kyiv by plane, which would have been exceptional. The U.S. government plane carrying the two envoys finally landed in the early hours of Sunday in Rzeszow, Poland, near the Ukrainian border, according to aviation tracking site FlightRadar24.
VIPs traveling to Ukraine generally take the train from border countries, as Ukrainian airports have been closed since the start of the war.
During the night from Friday to Saturday, “demonstrative” Russian bombings hit the two kyiv airports, according to Volodymyr Zelensky, who estimated that they were aimed at disrupting this visit.
“A number of ideas”
Vladimir Putin spoke for three hours Saturday evening with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, a conversation that Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov described as “constructive, extremely frank and full of trust.”
“The American representatives have carefully prepared for this trip. They not only reiterated their usual interest in a rapid end to hostilities, but also presented a number of ideas on possible paths leading to a settlement,” Yuri Ushakov told reporters. The Russian side “expressed confidence in achieving the objectives set,” he added, without revealing them.
A White House spokesperson later said the two envoys “discussed substantial plans for next steps, which will be announced in the coming weeks.” “The situation is of course not simple,” the Russian president told the two envoys in a large room in the Kremlin, according to images broadcast by Russian television. The American president did not specify whether the proposal transmitted by his emissaries involved a cession of territories on the part of Ukraine, as he had previously suggested. He just said: “We have an idea for peace.”
He also attributed the war, which began with the launch of a large-scale Russian offensive against Ukraine in February 2022, to a “personality problem” between Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin. The trip, a rare event, of CIA Director John Ratcliffe last week to the Russian capital had given rise to much speculation.
