Talks in Kyiv: What Witkoff and Kushner discussed with Ukraine and Europe
Steve Witkoff, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Jared Kushner (photo: Ukrainian Presidential Office)
US presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner spent the day in Kyiv. The US side met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine's negotiating team, and representatives of Europe.
Witkoff and Kushner arrived in Kyiv by train today. As Zelenskyy noted, the Russians showed through their strikes that they couldn't travel by plane, even though Ukraine had everything ready and the airports were operational.
The Ukrainian team—Kyrylo Budanov, Rustem Umerov and Davyd Arakhamia—met the US delegation at the train station.
The talks took place over several sessions. First, the US team met with the Ukrainian side, and representatives of the United Kingdom, France, and Germany later joined the discussions.
President Zelenskyy and Trump's envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff in Kyiv on September 6, 2026 (photo: Ukrainian Presidential Office)
Zelenskyy's statements
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said there were three rounds of talks today.
"You did an even better job today than the Patriot systems for our citizens in the capital. Thank you. Come more often, and we'll have a chance to live a little," the president joked while addressing Witkoff and Kushner.
"We had good talks. We can joke about Patriots sometimes, but we understand that this is a very pressing issue. We devoted enough attention to the winter period and all the challenges that could really arise. We very much hope to reach agreements with our American partners, and we are counting on our European partners. If the war continues through the winter, that's how it looks right now. The teams are assessing our future opportunities positively today. If the war continues through the winter, we are counting heavily on a winter package," the Ukrainian leader said, adding that difficult issues can only be resolved at the leaders' level.
What Volodymyr Zelenskyy said:
- Everyone notes that we have strengthened our position on the battlefield. This gives us greater confidence in any future format for discussions. We need to do everything possible to make trilateral meetings happen. We'll see what Russia agrees to. Unfortunately, it is still very confident today, enough to consider one format or another.
- Our weak point is our anti-ballistic capabilities. We will strengthen them. I will have meetings in Norway and Canada, and we need to resolve several issues.
- The US side will increase production of anti-ballistic missiles next year, and we are counting on such systems.
- The past few days have been absolutely horrifying in the skies. Putin is doing this ahead of his elections. He is increasing the strikes. It's a new tactic. We will respond in kind.
- As of today, we have about 60 companies in Ukraine already working on intercepting jet drones. To be precise, 67. Several companies have already shown results. All of this is defense and Plan B. Plan A is to accelerate diplomatic efforts as much as possible to reduce the risk of escalation.
- What steps could be taken and when? We met, and over the coming weeks, Ukraine, the United States, and Europe will have an opportunity to discuss certain details we don't want to discuss publicly today. We want to see results. There were several new ideas, and we discussed them. Give us an opportunity to analyze them.
- The Donbas issue is not just about Donbas. I believe it is an issue concerning the entire war. This is a war for survival and attrition. It is a territorial issue that is one of Russia's objectives.
Witkoff's statements
Steve Witkoff in Kyiv (photo: Ukrainian Presidential Office)
Witkoff said Trump asked them to come to Ukraine to resume negotiations because this is very important to him.
He also said they were very serious about it and that it was very important for them to achieve a result.
Witkoff also noted that he had met with Putin and his team in Moscow about eight times. He traveled to Russia three times with Kushner, and each time they were respectfully received.
What Steve Witkoff said:
- To resolve conflicts like these, relationships are very important. If you don't have established relationships and communication with both sides, the chances of reaching a peaceful resolution are very slim.
- First, we went to Putin to hear his position. We had a substantive conversation with him, which we told Zelenskyy about. Both sides have to reach a decision. And Jared's and my mission here is to bring both sides to the table, to create channels of communication. I hope we have started that process.
Kushner's statements
Jared Kushner in Kyiv (photo: Ukrainian Presidential Office)
"President Trump sends his warm regards and his respect. He is following the situation very closely and working very hard to try find a path out of this war. The president is now very focused not simply on ending the conflict, but on how to create a framework that will actually build a durable peace," Kushner said.
He also noted that Trump tasked them with preparing a peace package.
"Steve and I believe it would be productive to come back to the trilateral format that we tried about six months ago. We discussed this with both parties, and we hope to come back to it soon. It's very important to discuss not only the big issues, but also de-escalation. Steve and I believe the trilateral format is more useful because all sides communicate with each other," Kushner said.
What Jared Kushner said:
- There are no such concepts in the world as an eternal enemy or an eternal ally. We need to approach the solution with the goal of the best possible outcome and the benefits that can be gained.
- President Trump came from the business world. And in the business world, you think in terms of win-win—how to create an opportunity for both sides to act in their own interests. War is a negative approach; everyone loses.
