US Envoys Push for Trilateral Talks in Kyiv as Witkoff Expresses Optimism Over Resolution

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner pushed for a return to trilateral talks between the US, Russia and Ukraine on Sunday following substantive discussions with Ukrainian officials in Kyiv. It marks their first visit to the Ukrainian capital since the war began and comes amid near-constant Russian missile and drone strikes on the city.

Although no major breakthroughs were announced after Sunday’s talks, Witkoff said he was confident that there’ll be a good resolution here. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said several new ideas were discussed during good discussions with the US, but did not expand on what those ideas were. The talks followed intensive meetings Witkoff and Kushner held with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, part of Washington’s renewed push to end the war in Ukraine.

One thing Steve Witkoff and I really thought would be productive is to go back to the trilateral format, which we were able to do about six months ago, Kushner said in a news conference following the talks in Kyiv. Kushner said he prefers trilateral talks as they allow all parties to communicate directly, without the US having to speak for Ukraine or Russia.

Previous trilateral talks mediated by the US have failed to resolve key issues such as territory and security guarantees for Ukraine. Zelensky agreed, saying that we must do everything possible to ensure that trilateral meetings take place – or trilateral meetings plus our European partners. We’ll see what Russia agrees to.