Trump Envoys Meet Zelenskyy. No Talks Are Scheduled
Trump Envoys Meet Zelenskyy. No Talks Are Scheduled
The News
Two of President Donald Trump's envoys sat down with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Sunday and came away using the word "encouraged." They did not come away with a negotiation. No next round of Russia-Ukraine talks has been scheduled, no venue has been set, and no one has publicly described what is in the American proposal.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, met Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Sunday, Sept. 6 — their first official visit to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022, according to Al Jazeera and The National Desk. They arrived by train from Poland, Al Jazeera reported; Ukraine's airspace has been closed since 2022.
The meeting came one day after the pair spent more than three hours with Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin. Al Jazeera reported that Witkoff and Kushner have travelled to Moscow eight times; Sunday was their first time in Kyiv.
Ukraine's senior security officials and negotiators were in the room. European national security advisers joined a later session — the BBC named the UK's Jonathan Powell among them, and the Jerusalem Post reported British, French and German advisers landed in Kyiv on Sunday. The National Desk reported Ukraine, the US, Britain, France and Germany took part in the final round.
What was actually agreed, on the record, is narrow:
- A three-day pause on strikes against the two capitals. Putin and Zelenskyy agreed to stop hitting Kyiv and Moscow around the envoys' trip, starting at midnight Saturday, per the New York Post and Al Jazeera. It covers the capitals only. Fighting continued everywhere else.
- Nothing else. The National Desk reported no major breakthrough was announced from either the Moscow or Kyiv meeting. The New York Post reported no one publicly disclosed specific details of what a peace plan would look like.
On next steps, the strongest on-record line is a hope, not a date. Kushner, quoted by the New York Post: "One thing Steve and I really thought would be productive is to go back to the trilateral format, which we were able to do about six months ago, and we've spoken with both parties. And so hopefully we'll have progress on that very soon."
The National Desk reported Witkoff hopes to announce another round of US-mediated talks soon, and that a follow-up meeting with Ukraine, the US and European partners is expected — but that no location has been set. A White House official told Reuters, per Al Jazeera, that next steps would be announced "in the coming weeks."
Timeline
A Russian drone strike hit the headquarters of Ukraine's security service, the SBU, in central Kyiv — the first time Moscow has struck the SBU headquarters, Semafor reported. The same day, Trump said his envoys were carrying a "proposal" to end the fighting: "We have an idea for peace," he said, without elaborating, per Al Jazeera.
Witkoff and Kushner met Putin in Moscow for more than three hours behind closed doors. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov called the talks "highly useful" and "extremely frank," said the US side "put forward a number of ideas on possible routes to a settlement," and gave no details. Ushakov also said note was made of the Russian army's "tangible advances," per the BBC. Putin told the envoys: "We will do everything that depends on us to ensure the safety of the negotiation process and mediators such as yourselves."
The envoys reach Kyiv. Zelenskyy meets them near Saint Sophia's Cathedral — across from the SBU building hit two days earlier — and posts video saying, "Talks have begun." Several sessions follow, including one with European advisers.
Reactions
Zelenskyy, greeting the envoys: "It is very important that the delegation has arrived to see us. We have been waiting a long time for Steve and Jared, Witkoff and Kushner." He thanked Trump for "allowing them to come," per Al Jazeera. Afterward he said Ukraine needs "strong and clear" security guarantees including a strong army, called the Donbas question "difficult," and said territory can only be settled by leaders, per the BBC and The National Desk. He said he expects the war to run into winter.
Witkoff called the discussion "substantive, important" and said the US team was "very encouraged," per Al Jazeera. In Kyiv, standing beside Zelenskyy: "We came here, and I think we really feel good about what has happened in the conversations in Moscow and now the conversations here," the New York Post reported. The BBC reported he also conceded both sides would have to make compromises.
Kushner said Trump wants "not just to figure out how we end the current war, but how do we create the right conditions and arrangements for a long-term, durable peace."
The skeptics. Semafor reported analysts cast doubt on the push, quoting former Australian general Mick Ryan: "The reality of the current diplomatic push is that it is attempting the same approach to diplomacy that has consistently failed." The BBC's James Landale wrote that the expectation in Kyiv is that the fighting will continue, and that some diplomats point to a possible window next spring.
What's Next
No talks are scheduled. That is the state of play as of Sunday night: an expected follow-up with no location, a trilateral format the US hopes to revive, and a White House promise of an announcement "in the coming weeks."
The obstacle has not moved. Al Jazeera reported Russia demands Ukraine withdraw from the belt of towns it still holds in Luhansk and Donetsk, and Kyiv has refused. Putin's "root causes" framing, per the BBC, is shorthand for demands that Ukraine cede territory, drop NATO ambitions and shrink its army. The New York Post noted Zelenskyy has said Ukraine's constitution bars a president from surrendering territory.
Meanwhile the war ran on through the diplomacy. Ukraine's Air Force said Russia attacked overnight with 108 drones and missiles; The National Desk reported one person killed and at least 10 wounded across several regions. Ukraine said it struck the Ryazan oil refinery, roughly 300 miles inside Russia, setting a fire. Russia's Defence Ministry said it downed 400 drones over 24 hours, according to Interfax via Al Jazeera.
More
Russia controls about one-fifth of Ukraine after more than four and a half years of war, the BBC and The National Desk reported. Ukrainian officials told the envoys that in August they gained more ground than they lost and that Russia took 42,000 casualties, dead or wounded — the opposite of what Putin told the same two men in Moscow a day earlier, per the BBC.
Zelenskyy said Sunday's sessions covered Patriot air-defense systems, energy support before winter, long-term security guarantees and economic help for reconstruction, The National Desk reported.
Sources: Al Jazeera, BBC News, The National Desk, New York Post, Semafor, Washington Examiner, Jerusalem Post.
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