European Pravda learns details of Kyiv talks with US envoys Witkoff and Kushner

Ukraine and three European countries will spend the next few weeks preparing a common position for possible negotiations with Russia, according to a source cited by European Pravda.

Ukraine, France, Germany and the United Kingdom plan to formulate the terms they would take into further talks. The discussions followed a 6 September visit to Kyiv by Emmanuel Bonne, French President Emmanuel Macron’s security adviser, who met US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

A source in Macron’s administration said Bonne’s visit allowed him to hear the Americans’ account of their conversation with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and to coordinate the next steps. Witkoff and Kushner reportedly said Russia might become more willing to negotiate after elections to the State Duma, and that preparations should begin for a fresh start to the talks.

During a joint discussion with the national security advisers of France, Germany and the UK, the US negotiators did not specify the parameters of any negotiations Russia had agreed to. European officials, coordinating with Ukraine, presented their own list of demands. It includes security guarantees, Ukrainian territories, sanctions and other issues.

The advisers agreed to remain in contact and work with Ukraine on clear terms intended to make a strong and lasting peace possible. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after meeting the US envoys that preparations were under way for further meetings and communications. Witkoff said the US delegation’s task was to “bring the sides closer together,” while Zelenskyy said the Kyiv talks produced several new ideas and an agreement to meet again in a Ukraine-US-Europe format.