Ukraine and US envoys lay groundwork for autumn trilateral talks with Russia; Zelenskyy names possible venues
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on September 8 that the next round of trilateral talks between Ukraine, the United States and Russia could be held in the UAE, Switzerland, or Turkey, after US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited Moscow on September 5 and Kyiv on September 6. Zelenskyy, who plans to meet US President Donald Trump in September, listed energy, grain and prisoner exchanges as priority topics and said Ukraine is ready for compromises on energy issues. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhiy Tykhyi said Kyiv is ready to resume the three-sided format and considers a leaders-level meeting most effective. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said a roadmap to resume negotiations could be developed in coming weeks but cautioned that significant obstacles remain.
Key points
- US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited Moscow on September 5 and Kyiv on September 6 for talks on ending the war.
- Zelenskyy on September 8 named the UAE, Switzerland, and Turkey as possible venues for the next trilateral meeting, citing invitations received from various countries.
- Topics for the next trilateral meeting could include energy, grain exports and humanitarian issues, primarily prisoner exchanges, Zelenskyy said.
- Zelenskyy said Ukraine is ready for compromises on energy, which he called a "painful" issue not only for Kyiv but also for Russia, India, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
- Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhiy Tykhyi said Kyiv is ready to resume the trilateral format and considers a leaders-level meeting the most effective, and that both sides now have new ideas and approaches.
- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said a roadmap to resume negotiations could be developed in coming weeks but warned significant obstacles remain and that he sees no major progress yet in either side's willingness to compromise.
- Trilateral talks between Ukraine, the US and Russia were suspended after the start of the US-Israeli operation against Iran in February; Russian State Duma elections are scheduled for September 18-20.
Why it matters
A renewed three-sided format would mark the first high-level Ukraine-US-Russia negotiations since talks stalled earlier in 2026, following shuttle diplomacy by senior US envoys in both capitals. The agenda Zelenskyy outlined — energy, grain and prisoner exchanges — addresses immediate wartime concerns rather than only the long-running political settlement, and a possible limited "energy ceasefire" for winter could affect civilian infrastructure on both sides. Any autumn summit would face the same territorial deadlock that has blocked earlier rounds: Russia demands Ukrainian withdrawal from all of Donbas, Kyiv is categorically against territorial concessions or troop withdrawal, and the US has floated an as-yet-undefined free economic zone in Donbas.
What happened
On September 5, US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow for talks lasting more than three hours. On September 6, they made their first visit to Kyiv for negotiations on ending the war. Witkoff said upon returning to the US that "substantial progress" had been made, including on agreeing a schedule for additional trilateral talks. After the visits, Ukraine and Russia agreed not to strike each other's capitals until September 7. On September 8, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told journalists that the next trilateral meeting could take place in the UAE, Switzerland, Turkey or another country, citing invitations from various states, and that the agenda could include energy, grain and prisoner exchanges. Zelenskyy said he plans to meet US President Donald Trump in September before working to prepare the three-sided talks, and that the meeting should produce concrete results, not only discussions. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhiy Tykhyi said Kyiv is ready to resume the trilateral format, considers a leaders-level meeting most effective, and that both Ukrainian and American sides now have new ideas, with the reality on the battlefield and in the skies having changed since the discussion of the 28-point US plan. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said a roadmap to resume negotiations could be developed within weeks but warned significant obstacles remain.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Ukrainian outlets led with Zelenskyy's comments, reporting his enumeration of possible venues (UAE, Switzerland, Turkey), the topics he listed — energy, grain, prisoner exchanges — and his readiness to compromise on energy while reiterating that Kyiv is categorically against territorial concessions or troop withdrawal. They gave prominent play to Tykhyi's briefing, which stressed that "diplomacy needs space" and that battlefield and air-space realities have changed since the 28-point US plan was discussed. They reported Ukraine's preference for a leaders-level format and cited an RBC-Ukraine source on a possible "energy ceasefire" for winter and on US envoys' reported message to Putin that previous winter escalation attempts failed and Ukraine did not "break."
How international sources describe it
English-language and other international coverage centered on the US diplomatic role — Witkoff and Kushner's visits and Rubio's statements — rather than Ukrainian domestic messaging. The Azerbaijani agency APA included Switzerland's announced readiness to host negotiations and Russia's stated hope that trilateral talks will resume, casting the story as a multilateral diplomatic process. A source in French President Emmanuel Macron's administration told European Pravda that Moscow could show "new readiness" after the Russian State Duma elections on September 18-20. Former US Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst argued Putin "will have a political problem in winter," a political-pressure framing absent from Ukrainian reporting. International outlets emphasized that earlier rounds stalled over the Donbas question, presenting territorial issues as the central unresolved obstacle.
Where reporting differs
Sources do not agree on how much progress was actually made. Witkoff said "substantial progress" had been achieved, including on scheduling additional trilateral talks; the Kremlin, through Putin aide Yuri Ushakov, called the Moscow meeting "extremely important" and "useful" but reported no concrete breakthrough; Rubio said the talks were "substantive" with some openness to proposals but warned significant obstacles remain and that he sees no major progress in either side's willingness to compromise. A possible limited "energy ceasefire" for winter was framed by one RBC-Ukraine source as plausible, while Rubio's comments suggest no significant movement on willingness to compromise. On Russia's readiness, Zelenskyy said he was told "the Russians are ready for negotiations," while other sources report only that Russia "hopes" trilateral talks will resume, without confirming readiness on terms.
Background
Trilateral talks between Ukraine, the US and Russia were suspended after the start of the US-Israeli operation against Iran in February. Trump made ending the Russia-Ukraine war a priority when he took office in January 2025, but no agreement has been reached. In earlier rounds the sides could not bridge their positions on Donbas: Russia demands the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the entire region, the US has floated a free economic zone in Donbas whose administration and security guarantees remain unclear, and Kyiv is categorically against any territorial concessions or troop withdrawal. Russian State Duma elections are scheduled for September 18-20, which sources have linked to possible changes in Moscow's negotiating position. Swiss authorities have announced their readiness to host a new round and Russia has expressed hope that trilateral talks will resume.