US peace envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff met Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Sunday, stepping up the Trump administration’s renewed push to end Russia’s four-and-a-half-year war after holding three hours of talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Moscow.The Kyiv meeting was the first visit by Witkoff and Kushner to Ukraine in their capacity as US negotiators. Their Moscow talks on Saturday produced no breakthrough, although Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov described the meeting as “highly useful”. The White House said further steps would be announced in the coming weeks.Zelenskyy said Ukraine was ready to pursue a peace agreement but stressed that any settlement would need firm security guarantees and a dignified post-war peace. “Our proposals have been drawn up,” he said ahead of the envoys’ arrival.The Ukrainian president also described his discussions with the US team as “very substantial”. He said the two sides had discussed security and economic guarantees as well as a broader prosperity plan for Ukraine, and expressed hope that the American negotiators would return for further talks.Witkoff struck a similarly positive tone, calling the discussions “substantive” and saying the US was seeking a diplomatic rather than a military resolution to the conflict. Kushner said Washington was working on constructing a “peace package”.The US team also held out the possibility of reviving a trilateral negotiating format involving Russia, Ukraine and the United States. European involvement was also expected, with British, French and German national security advisers in Kyiv for discussions.Putin also announced that there was a chance of reaching a peace agreement to end the war in Ukraine on Thursday stating that, “Ultimately…the problem must be resolved by the countries involved in the conflict – Russia and Ukraine. Is there a chance [at peace]? In my view, yes, there is.”On the contrary the two sides have recently intensified long-range strikes before the coming of US envoys. Russia has repeatedly targeted Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, while Ukraine has struck Russian oil refineries and other infrastructure in an effort to raise the cost of the war for Moscow.For now the strikes over Moscow and Kyiv on a pause till Monday, for the duration of the US envoys 3-day visit.
