Witkoff, Kushner Make First Kyiv Visit After Putin Talks — SkimNews
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- Witkoff and Kushner arrived in Kyiv on Sunday for their first trip to Ukraine despite months of shuttle diplomacy and multiple prior trips to Russia, meeting President Zelensky twice and joining a third meeting with national security advisers from the U.K., France and Germany.
- The Kyiv visit came directly after the envoys' three-hour meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday and marks the highest-level U.S. official visit to Ukraine since Trump started his second term.
- The envoys stressed to Zelensky they want a breakthrough before winter, while Zelensky discussed Ukrainian preparations for the war continuing through the winter season.
- A Russian official told reporters Kushner and Witkoff "are making progress," and a White House official said the Moscow meeting covered "plans for next steps, which will be announced in the coming weeks."
- After the second Zelensky meeting, the envoys said they were "encouraged by the substantive discussion," having traveled Moscow → Poland by land → Kyiv.
Why it matters: This is Witkoff and Kushner's first-ever visit to Ukraine after months of Moscow-only shuttle diplomacy, making it the highest-level U.S. trip since Trump began his second term. With Britain, France and Germany joining a meeting and both Moscow and Kyiv publicly citing "progress," the talks set up next steps due in the coming weeks — squarely before the winter the envoys flagged as their deadline.
Ask SkimNews
