Zelensky calls Kushner and Witkoff proposals “weighty”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that American envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff presented “very good, worthwhile ideas” for ending the war during their visit to Kyiv over the weekend.

He told this to journalists on Tuesday.

Zelensky declined to reveal details of the proposals, citing an agreement with the American negotiators to work through them first.

“As for the peace package that Kushner spoke about, and the new ideas — I can say that among them were truly very worthy, weighty proposals,” he told journalists in a WhatsApp media chat, Reuters reports.

The Ukrainian president expressed hope for trilateral talks between Ukraine, Russia, and the United States in the autumn. He named Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, or Switzerland as possible venues. Zelensky also hopes to meet with President Donald Trump around September 20 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. Among the issues under discussion, he mentioned grain supplies and energy infrastructure, adding that Ukraine “is ready to seek compromise” on these matters.

In a separate interview with Axios on Monday, Zelensky said he believes Putin “needs” Trump and may face pressure from the Trump administration to de-escalate before winter arrives.

“Russia is really counting on this winter to help them break us,” he said.

Witkoff and Kushner’s trip to Moscow and Kyiv over the weekend was their first visit to Ukraine as presidential intermediaries. Witkoff described the talks in Kyiv as “substantive” and expressed “great optimism,” also noting “progress on organizing additional trilateral talks.”

Russia holds a fundamentally different position. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Tuesday that Moscow is “convinced: victory is very close,” and expressed confidence in the country’s military potential. The Washington-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War said on Sunday that at the current pace of advance, Russian forces would not be able to capture Donetsk region before 2032 — “if at all.”

Zelensky’s remarks came against the backdrop of Russia resuming air strikes on Kyiv in the early hours of Tuesday — after a brief lull that coincided with the American envoys’ visit. According to the Kyiv Independent, at least five people were killed and dozens were wounded. More than 50 sites in the capital were damaged, including residential buildings, schools, and a flour mill. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha condemned the strikes, calling them an undermining of diplomatic progress.

“His ballistic missiles speak louder than his words about diplomacy,” Sybiha wrote on X, referring to Putin.