Zelenskyy does not see a quick end to the war after meeting with American envoys Today’s news
Ukraine is resigned to the Russian war stretching into another harsh winter and is seeking a “package” from allies to cover air defense reinforcements and energy, including US LNG.
Zelenskyy spoke to reporters after a meeting in Kiev with President Donald Trump’s negotiating duo of Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, who were later joined by national security chiefs from the UK, France and Germany – whose attendance on Sunday was not previously announced. The US, Ukraine and Europe have decided to meet again at a time and place to be determined, Zelenskyy said.
“We made progress in Moscow. We have new ideas and we brought them to Kyiv,” Witkoff said at a press conference.
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Zelenskyy aims to secure a “package” from allies that includes air defense boosts and energy support, specifically US LNG, while negotiating a post-war “prosperity plan” for Ukraine.
Ukraine is skeptical because of Russia’s constant demands for territorial concessions and a history of negotiations that have produced little progress amid ongoing fighting.
Witkoff and Kushner prepared by having substantive discussions with Putin, focusing on formulating practical ideas toward a potential solution to end the war.
Zelenskyi consistently rejected Russian demands for the ceding of additional territory and emphasized that the territorial integrity of Ukraine cannot be negotiated.
The temporary ceasefire reflects an effort to facilitate constructive dialogue and show goodwill, even as sporadic fighting continues elsewhere.
Zelenskyy declined to elaborate on any “new ideas” to end the conflict, now in its fifth year, but said Sunday’s talks also touched on a post-war “prosperity plan” for Ukraine.
Territorial issues, such as Russia’s demand that Ukraine cede more parts of its eastern Donbas region, should be resolved at the “leader level”, Zelenskyy said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin insists Ukraine must give up the rest of its eastern Donetsk region as part of any deal to end the war. Ukraine has repeatedly rejected demands to hand over a fortified belt of cities in the region that Russian forces have failed to capture in fighting since 2014.
Sunday’s discussion followed a more than three-hour meeting between US officials in Moscow on Saturday, which a Kremlin aide described as “very useful”.
Putin opened the meeting by describing the situation in Ukraine as “not simple”. Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov described the talks as “substantial, constructive, extremely frank and trusting”.
While Witkoff and Kushner have traveled to Moscow frequently — Witkoff said Sunday he had been to the Russian capital eight times — Sunday’s visit was their first to Kiev since being tasked with conducting negotiations on Trump’s behalf.
The US president said in the Oval Office on Friday that his envoys “carry with them a proposal to end the war”, without elaborating.
Trump repeatedly promised in 2024 that he would be able to find a quick solution to the conflict in Ukraine. But since returning to the White House in 2025, Europe’s longest war since World War II has proved more difficult to resolve — and until this weekend, talks were on ice as the US-led war against Iran began in late February.
Witkoff and Kushner were earlier welcomed by Zelenskyj at the historic St. Sofia in the center of Kyiv after arriving in the capital by train. Rustem Umerov, head of Ukraine’s foreign intelligence service, posted a video on social media of the pair exiting the train.
“Ukraine has always been and will remain constructive,” Zelenskyy said on X before the talks. “Security guarantees are needed. A dignified character of post-war peace is needed. Our proposals are ready.”
The US envoys’ visit followed days of near-continuous airstrikes by Russia’s new jet-powered drones, which have changed daily life, even by the standards of war-hardened Kiev. Russia and Ukraine declared a temporary ceasefire this weekend in firing on their respective capitals.
This article was generated from an automated news agency source without text modification.
