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🇵🇱 Poland /Economy & Trade

Zelenskyy’s talks with Trump envoys end, Witkoff calls them “substantive and important”

From Rzeczpospolita · () Polish

Translated from Polish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a first, roughly three-hour round of talks in Kyiv with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
  • Witkoff called the discussion “substantive and important,” while Kushner said the US team wanted to make greater progress; a broader round was expected to follow with British, French and German security advisers.
  • The talks form part of Washington’s diplomatic effort to end the Russia-Ukraine war, although negotiations remain stalled over a ceasefire, territory and Ukraine’s NATO ambitions.

The first round of talks between Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Ukrainian delegation and Donald Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, has ended in Kyiv after about three hours. A second, expanded round was expected to include national security advisers from Britain, France and Germany.

Witkoff said his team was very satisfied with the “substantive and important” discussion. Kushner said the American negotiating team “wants to make greater progress.” The two statements came after the first session, Reuters reported.

substantive and important

· Steve WitkoffWitkoff used the phrase to describe the first round of talks in Kyiv.

The US envoys travelled to Kyiv as part of Washington’s effort to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. Their visit came a day after they met Vladimir Putin in Moscow. It was their first visit to the Ukrainian capital since becoming involved in peace discussions in 2025, although they had travelled to Moscow several times previously.

wants to make greater progress

· Jared KushnerKushner described the US negotiating team’s aim after the meeting.

Axios reported that Witkoff and Kushner had probably discussed sanctions against Russia during their Moscow visit. Two days earlier, Trump said he had sent negotiators to Moscow and Kyiv with a “proposal to end the war.” A White House official, speaking anonymously, said the Moscow meeting covered “significant plans for the next steps that will be announced in the coming weeks.”

Before the Kyiv talks, Zelenskyy met Ukraine’s negotiating team and said his country wanted to end the war and had prepared peace proposals. Putin had ordered a three-day halt to attacks on Kyiv through Monday. Zelenskyy said Ukraine would not attack Moscow during that period if Russia observed the declaration.

proposal to end the war

· Donald TrumpTrump used the phrase when describing why he sent negotiators to Moscow and Kyiv.

The negotiations have effectively been deadlocked since the start of the year. Moscow continues to reject a ceasefire along the current front lines and demands that Kyiv surrender Donbas, a partly occupied and strategically important region in eastern Ukraine, and abandon its NATO membership ambitions.

significant plans for the next steps that will be announced in the coming weeks

· Anonymous White House officialThe official described the issues discussed by Witkoff and Kushner with Putin in Moscow.
About this summary

Originally published by Rzeczpospolita in Polish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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