Zelenskyy begins talks with US envoys before meeting European representatives

Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s meeting with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner began in Kyiv on Sunday, followed by a second session with representatives from Germany, France and the United Kingdom. The talks are aimed at reviving dialogue to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.

“We have begun the negotiations,” Zelenskyy wrote on his official Telegram account. He had earlier told the TSN television channel that the American and Ukrainian teams would hold a working session first, followed by talks with European partners.

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We have begun the negotiations.

Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Kyrylo Budanov, said the European representatives came from France, the United Kingdom and Germany. “An intense day and important negotiations await us,” he wrote on Telegram. “Together we are working to achieve a just and lasting peace for Ukraine.”

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An intense day and important negotiations await us.

Witkoff and Kushner arrived in Kyiv by train. According to Zelenskyy, the Russians did not allow them to travel by plane, despite declaring a halt to attacks on the city until Monday. The two envoys had visited the Kremlin the previous day to present Vladimir Putin with a proposal to end the war.

The Ukrainian negotiating team, including Budanov, Foreign Intelligence Service chief Rustem Umerov, ruling Servant of the People parliamentary leader David Arakhamia and First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Serhii Kyslytsia, greeted the Americans at Kyiv’s railway station. The delegation later went to Sofia Square, where Zelenskyy received them. “We have been waiting for Steve and Jared for a long time,” he told TSN, while Witkoff described the trip to Kyiv as “excellent.”

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Together we are working to achieve a just and lasting peace for Ukraine.

This was the first visit to Kyiv by Trump’s special envoy and son-in-law since Trump began his second term. The two negotiators had previously traveled several times to Moscow, while Zelenskyy and his team had met them in the United States or other countries. The latest meeting between the teams took place in Miami in late March. The peace dialogue has remained stalled for more than six months, with the article citing the US war with Iran and the failure of Russia and Ukraine to narrow their differences. “We are ready for dialogue,” Zelenskyy wrote shortly before the envoys arrived.

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We have been waiting for Steve and Jared for a long time.