Ukraine’s Presidential Office head holds talks with Witkoff in US: First details
Photo: Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff (x.com/AndriyYermak)
Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, met in New York with US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, according to Yermak's post on X.
"The key priority is to push forward real diplomacy and ensure the implementation of all the agreements reached at the Washington summit. We are coordinating our efforts," Yermak said.
According to him, Ukraine’s First Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Sergiy Kyslytsya, also participated in the meeting. At the start of the talks, he briefed the US Special Envoy on Russia’s war crimes against peaceful Ukrainian cities. In particular, they discussed the strike on Kyiv that killed 23 people, including four children.
Yermak emphasized that Russia is failing to take the necessary steps to end the war and is prolonging the fighting. He assured that Ukraine supports US President Donald Trump’s and all partners’ efforts to achieve a just peace as quickly as possible and welcomes all US peace initiatives. However, Russia continues to block these efforts.
"We are open to direct negotiations at the leaders’ level and ready to discuss the broadest spectrum of issues. We believe that global pressure is needed to ensure Russia is genuinely ready to move toward peace and, in particular, to hold critically important leaders’ meetings for that purpose," the head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office said.
Yermak’s meeting with Witkoff
On August 27, Western media reported rumors that the Ukrainian delegation would travel to the US to meet with US Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine.
Later, the President of Ukraine confirmed plans to speak with Trump’s team about security guarantees.
Notably, Yermak did not mention guarantees following the negotiations.
