US envoys Witkoff and Kushner to meet Ukrainian delegation 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 UK, France, and Germany, to discuss Ukrainian proposals for a de-escalation agreement with Russia. The meeting follows President Volodymyr Zelensky's stated readiness for personal negotiations with Vladimir Putin and his call for a trilateral meeting.
Key points
- US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner scheduled to meet the Ukrainian delegation in New York on September 22.
- National security advisors from the UK, France, and Germany are also expected to attend.
- The agenda focuses on Ukrainian proposals for a de-escalation agreement with Russia, according to Axios correspondent Barak Ravid, citing two sources.
- Witkoff and Kushner visited Kyiv in early September.
- After meeting US President Donald Trump, Zelensky said he is ready for personal negotiations with Putin.
- Zelensky said Trump wants to end the war and has promised to do everything to achieve that.
- Zelensky said the most important step would be a trilateral meeting to discuss sensitive issues and try to end the war.
Why it matters
The meeting brings together US envoys, the Ukrainian negotiating team, and European national security advisors in a single sitting to discuss a de-escalation framework, signaling continued US-mediated diplomacy aimed at ending the war. It comes in the immediate wake of Zelensky's public readiness for personal talks with Putin and his call for a trilateral leaders' meeting, raising the prospect that the New York talks feed directly into a higher-level encounter.
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 with national security advisors from the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. According to Axios correspondent Barak Ravid, citing two sources familiar with the situation, the agenda centers on Ukrainian proposals for a de-escalation agreement with Russia. The meeting follows a visit by Witkoff and Kushner to Kyiv in early September and a subsequent meeting between President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump, after which Zelensky reiterated that he is ready for personal negotiations with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. During a media briefing, Zelensky said Trump wants to end the war and has promised to do everything to achieve that, and he identified a trilateral leaders' meeting as the most important next step for resolving sensitive issues and trying to end the conflict.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Ukrainian-language coverage leads with the US envoys meeting the Ukrainian negotiating group, foregrounding the bilateral US–Ukraine track and the diplomatic engagement that Kyiv has secured. The same reporting characterizes Russia's leader as a "dictator," sharpening the adversarial framing of the counterpart in any negotiation and reflecting how Ukrainian outlets present the moral stakes of the talks.
How international sources describe it
International (English-language) coverage uses the neutral phrasing "discuss Ukrainian de-escalation proposals" and does not characterize Russia's leader, keeping the focus on the diplomatic process rather than on the parties. This framing treats the New York meeting primarily as a procedural step in an ongoing mediation effort rather than as a confrontation between named adversaries.
Background
Witkoff and Kushner visited Kyiv in early September 2026, in the lead-up to the New York meeting with the Ukrainian delegation and European national security advisors.