Witkoff and Kushner visit Kyiv but make no breakthrough as war continues

Steve Witkoff arrived in Kyiv aboard the Peace Express with Jared Kushner, carrying an optimistic message about diplomacy but no visible breakthrough. After talks in Moscow, the U.S. mediator said both Moscow and Kyiv would need to make compromises and reduce the issues still blocking an agreement.

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make compromises and reduce the outstanding issues

"It is very difficult, but we are committed, we care, and we hope that all this will lead to a peaceful and successful diplomatic solution," Witkoff said. He also said he believed the negotiators had the ingredients needed to reach peace. The article presents that optimism alongside the harsher assessment coming from Kyiv, where the war and the diplomatic deadlock continue at the same time.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the territorial question remained important, but argued that issues so complex could be resolved only by the presidents. Moscow claims four partially controlled regions, while Kyiv wants the current front line frozen. Russia is also demanding a neutral and effectively demilitarized Ukraine. Kyiv, by contrast, wants security guarantees and a strong army.

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It is very difficult, but we are committed, we care, and we hope that all this will lead to a peaceful and successful diplomatic solution.

Zelenskyy said Patriot air-defense systems were an urgent priority and that Ukraine needed a package to get through the winter. "If the war continues in winter, and so far it really seems that it will, we are counting heavily on the winter package that I discussed in detail today with Steve, Jared and our European partners," he said. Kushner said the United States was working on a peace package to help facilitate an agreement, while advisers from Germany, Britain and France were in Kyiv to underline European support for Zelenskyy's negotiating position and his call for a dignified peace.

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If the war continues in winter, and so far it really seems that it will, we are counting heavily on the winter package that I discussed in detail today with Steve, Jared and our European partners.

The fighting has not stopped, and tensions between Moscow and Europe have also risen. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described Berlin's diplomatic retaliation over accusations linked to drones at Leipzig airport as "the beginning of a real war." Germany is preparing a protective shield against Russian threats, while EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius said Putin was the war's true underlying cause.

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The beginning of a real war.