US envoys Witkoff and Kushner meet Ukrainian team and European advisors in New York on de-escalation proposals
US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are scheduled to meet in New York on September 22 with the Ukrainian negotiating team and national security advisors from the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. The talks will focus on Ukrainian proposals for a deal to de-escalate the war with Russia. The meeting follows President Volodymyr Zelensky's earlier meeting with US President Donald Trump, after which Zelensky said he was ready for personal negotiations with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and called for a trilateral leaders' meeting.
Key points
- September 22 meeting in New York between US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the Ukrainian negotiating team, and UK, French, and German national security advisors.
- Agenda: Ukrainian proposals for a de-escalation deal with Russia.
- Zelensky, after meeting Trump, said he is ready for personal negotiations with Putin.
- Zelensky said the most important step would be a trilateral leaders' meeting to discuss sensitive issues and try to end the war.
- Witkoff and Kushner visited Kyiv in early September.
- The Axios story was reported by correspondent Barak Ravid on X, citing two sources familiar with the situation.
Why it matters
The gathering brings together US envoys, the Ukrainian negotiating team and security advisors from three European powers in a single room, signalling that the diplomatic track on ending the war remains active at the working level even as headline-level contacts continue. Ukraine is putting a de-escalation framework on the table rather than only reacting to proposals from others. The presence of the UK, France and Germany shows European allies are still directly involved in shaping the negotiating agenda, not merely consulted after the fact.
What happened
US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were scheduled to meet in New York on September 22 with the Ukrainian negotiating team and national security advisors from the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. According to Axios correspondent Barak Ravid, citing two sources, the agenda centres on Ukrainian proposals for a deal to de-escalate the war with Russia. The New York meeting follows Witkoff and Kushner's early-September visit to Kyiv and President Volodymyr Zelensky's earlier meeting with US President Donald Trump. Zelensky said after that meeting that he was ready for personal negotiations with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and that the most important step Trump could take would be to organise a trilateral meeting of the leaders to try to end the war.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Ukrainian-language coverage frames Putin as a 'dictator' in recounting Zelensky's readiness to negotiate, foregrounding the moral characterisation of the conflict. It also explicitly links the New York talks to the prior Trump–Zelensky meeting, presenting the US–Ukraine engagement as a continuous direct channel at the presidential level.
How international sources describe it
The English-language agency wire uses 'Russian leader' for Putin and centres the diplomatic substance — 'Ukrainian de-escalation proposals' — rather than the personal framing. It gives weight to the channel the story broke through, presenting the report as an Axios scoop by Barak Ravid on X rather than as an official announcement.
Background
Witkoff and Kushner visited Kyiv in early September before the New York meeting. After meeting Trump, Zelensky publicly stated his readiness for personal negotiations with Putin and said the most important step would be a trilateral leaders' meeting to address sensitive issues and attempt to end the war.