US special envoy Steve Witkoff has said that Washington sees progress towards a diplomatic resolution of the Ukraine conflict and hopes to revive trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and the US.
Speaking at a news conference in Kiev alongside another US envoy, Jared Kushner, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday, Witkoff said the US team had brought ideas discussed with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow to Kiev for further consideration.
“We think we made a lot of progress in Moscow. We heard new ideas,” he said.
Witkoff said the next step could include a trilateral meeting, adding that the US believed cooperation between the parties was critical and that such a meeting would be announced soon.
“It’s going to take both sides to make some compromises and narrow the issues between them. We think we have the ingredients to get to that place,” he said.
Witkoff said his and Kushner’s role was to bring the parties together, narrow differences, and establish communication channels.
According to him, their efforts over the previous 48 hours had begun “constructively.”
“We’re committed, we care, and we hope all of that leads to a successful, peaceful, diplomatic resolution,” he said.
A ‘peace package’
Witkoff said the US had been treated respectfully by Putin and his team, emphasising the importance of maintaining communication with both sides.
“We came to see President Putin first. We needed to hear where he stood,” Witkoff said. “We had a good, concrete conversation with him, which we advised President Zelenskyy and his team about.”
He said Washington remained confident that the diplomatic process could produce a positive outcome.
For his part, Kushner said the US wanted to return to a trilateral format involving Russia, Ukraine and the US, describing it as a possible next step towards a long-term peace agreement.
He said Trump had tasked him and Witkoff with developing a “peace package” aimed not simply at stopping the fighting but at establishing conditions for lasting peace.
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy said Ukraine, the US and European countries had agreed to hold another meeting soon, although the location had not yet been decided.
According to him, it could take place in Europe, the US or Ukraine.
Zelenskyy highlighted that the main unresolved issue remained territory and argued that questions of that magnitude could be settled only at the leaders’ level.
Zelenskyy said he did not currently expect the war to end before winter and warned that the conflict was likely to continue through it.
He also said the US planned to increase production of Patriot missiles next year and that Ukraine expected to receive additional systems.
