Zelensky meets US envoys Witkoff and Kushner in Kyiv a day after their Moscow talks with Putin
President Volodymyr Zelensky held consultations with Ukraine's negotiating team before meeting US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Kyiv on September 6. The visit came a day after the envoys' more than three-hour meeting with Vladimir Putin in Moscow and was their first trip to Ukraine in their current role mediating an end to the war. National security advisers from the UK, France and Germany were also in Kyiv.
Key points
- President Zelensky met the Ukrainian negotiating team — Head of the Office of the President Kyrylo Budanov, First Deputy Head Serhiy Kyslytsya, Head of the Foreign Intelligence Service Rustem Umerov, and Servant of the People faction head Davyd Arakhamia — before the US delegation's arrival.
- US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Putin in the Kremlin on September 5 for talks lasting more than three hours.
- Witkoff and Kushner arrived in Kyiv on September 6; Zelensky announced around 14:20 that negotiations had begun, posting a video of the meeting at Sofiyska Square near St. Sophia's bell tower.
- The Kyiv visit was Witkoff and Kushner's first trip to Ukraine in their current role leading US efforts to end the war; the earlier planned August visit was postponed amid intensified Russian strikes.
- Zelensky said Ukraine's proposals for the negotiations had been prepared and stressed that peace, security guarantees and a 'dignified' post-war peace were needed.
- National security advisers from the UK, France and Germany were in Kyiv alongside the US delegation, with two negotiation sessions planned — one with Ukraine, one with European partners.
- Putin ordered no strikes on Kyiv from midnight for three days, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov; Zelensky said Ukraine was ready to reciprocate by refraining from strikes on Moscow.
Why it matters
The Kyiv meeting marks the first time Witkoff and Kushner have travelled to Ukraine in their current role as US mediators, signalling a fresh push by President Trump to end the war. It comes on the heels of a substantial Moscow session with Putin, but Zelensky and European partners are framing the Kyiv leg as preparation for a coordinated, guarantees-based settlement rather than a bilateral US–Russia deal. The simultaneous arrival of national security advisers from the UK, France and Germany, and the mutual Kyiv-Moscow no-strike understanding announced by both sides, indicate that the negotiations are being staged as a managed, multilateral track.
What happened
On September 5, US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin for more than three hours. Kremlin aide Yuriy Ushakov called the talks 'substantive, very frank and constructive' and said the envoys would convey his views to Ukrainian leaders; the White House said next steps would be announced in the coming weeks. President Zelensky held a meeting with the Ukrainian negotiating team — Kyrylo Budanov, Serhiy Kyslytsya, Rustem Umerov and Davyd Arakhamia — to prepare Ukraine's positions. On September 6, Witkoff and Kushner arrived in Kyiv. Zelensky met them at Sofiyska Square near the bell tower of St. Sophia and announced around 14:20 that 'negotiations have begun,' posting a video to social media; the delegation was then given a short tour of the cathedral's interior. National security advisers from the UK, France and Germany were in Kyiv at the same time, and two negotiation sessions were planned — one with Ukraine and one with European partners. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had ordered no strikes on Kyiv from midnight for three days; Zelensky said Ukraine was ready to reciprocate by refraining from strikes on Moscow.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Ukrainian coverage centres Zelensky as actively preparing and leading the negotiating team, stresses that Ukrainian proposals are ready, and frames Ukraine as 'always constructive.' Reporting highlights the demand for security guarantees and a 'dignified' post-war peace as core Ukrainian red lines, and casts the simultaneous presence of European partners in Kyiv as evidence of a coordinated Western position rather than a US–Russia track. Zelensky's statement that Russia effectively prevented Witkoff and Kushner from arriving by plane is used to frame the Kremlin's three-day no-strike order as contingent on the negotiation period rather than a goodwill gesture, with Ukraine reciprocating by offering to refrain from strikes on Moscow.
Where reporting differs
Sources differ on the character of the Moscow meeting: Ushakov stressed Russia's confidence in achieving the war's goals and the need to remove 'root causes' — Kremlin shorthand for demands including ending Ukraine's NATO aspirations and disarming Ukraine's Armed Forces, which Kyiv rejects — while the White House described the talks as 'substantive' and focused on next steps. Zelensky emphasised Ukraine's constructive position and its demand for security guarantees, and Budanov said a ceasefire proposal had been conveyed to Putin without a response. There is also a disagreement over Putin's three-day no-strike order on Kyiv: the Kremlin presented it as a unilateral goodwill gesture, while Zelensky suggested it was tied to the negotiation period and noted Ukraine offered to reciprocate by not striking Moscow.
Background
The Kyiv leg was originally planned for August but was postponed amid intensified Russian strikes on Ukraine. US President Trump has publicly framed ending the Russia–Ukraine war as a priority since taking office in January 2025; in early August Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington would intensify peace efforts. US-mediated talks had previously stalled amid US–Israeli action against Iran. Ukrainian delegations in this process have been led by Head of the Office of the President Kyrylo Budanov, with Serhiy Kyslytsya, Rustem Umerov and Davyd Arakhamia as core participants.