American representatives arrived in Kyiv almost immediately after the negotiations in Moscow. The day before, Kushner and Witkoff spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin for about three hours. According to Witkoff, the results of the two consecutive meetings — first with the Russian side and then with the Ukrainian side — give American mediators grounds for optimism, as reported by the New York Post. "We came here, and I think we really have a very good assessment of what happened during the negotiations in Moscow, and now during our talks here," Witkoff said while speaking in Kyiv alongside Zelensky. For Kushner and Witkoff, this trip marked their first official visit directly to Ukraine. Witkoff is already well acquainted with the Russian direction: over the past year and a half, he has visited Moscow eight times for negotiations with the Russian side. ## Peace is Sought on Several Fronts Both representatives of Donald Trump's administration are currently involved not only in the Russian-Ukrainian negotiations. At the same time, they are working on conflict resolution in the Middle East. During his speech in Kyiv, Kushner touched on the situation surrounding Israel and the Gaza Strip. He acknowledged that Washington is facing serious political obstacles there. According to Kushner, the American side continues to work on a number of issues related to Israel. However, the parties, as he claims, generally understand what the final outcome of the settlement should be, but internal political processes in Israel complicate reaching agreements. Kushner specifically addressed the problem of demilitarization of the Gaza Strip. He stated that American representatives are only now beginning to fully realize the scale of the military potential accumulated there. "The scale of militarization in Gaza exceeds what you can imagine. Therefore, demilitarization will be quite a challenging task," Kushner said. ## The Trip to Kyiv Had to Be by Train The trip of the American representatives took place against the backdrop of ongoing hostilities. Shortly before Kushner and Witkoff's arrival in Ukraine, Russian forces, according to Zelensky, struck areas around the international airports of Kyiv and Boryspil. As a result, the American special envoys traveled to the Ukrainian capital by train. Despite the ongoing situation, US representatives stated after their meeting with Zelensky that they believe achieving a peace agreement is possible. However, they have not disclosed any specific information about the agreements reached or the content of the discussed plan so far. During the trip of the American mediators, Russia and Ukraine agreed to a three-day cessation of strikes, which began at midnight on Saturday. Kushner indicated that Donald Trump expects to achieve more than just another temporary pause in hostilities. "President Trump is primarily focused on how to create a system that could truly lead to lasting peace," Kushner stated. ## Bringing Everyone Back to the Table The most important statement following the Kyiv negotiations was Kushner's words about a possible return to a trilateral format. This refers to negotiations in which representatives from Russia, Ukraine, and the US would participate simultaneously. According to Kushner, such a format was used about six months ago. Now Washington considers it useful to try to return to it. Moreover, judging by the words of the American special envoy, the corresponding idea has already been discussed separately with both the Russian and Ukrainian sides. "One of the things that Steve and I consider really useful is returning to the trilateral format that we managed to use about six months ago. We have already talked about this with both sides. Therefore, we hope that progress will emerge here very soon," Kushner said. When exactly such a meeting might take place and who will represent Russia and Ukraine at it remains unknown. The specific content of the new peace plan being discussed by the American mediators is also not disclosed. ## Donbas Remains the Main Obstacle One of the most complex problems on the path to an agreement remains the territorial issue — primarily the future of Donbas. Disagreements over territories have already become one of the main obstacles to previous attempts to agree on ending the war. Moscow insists on establishing full control over Donbas. However, since the beginning of the full-scale war in 2022, the Russian army has not managed to occupy the entire region militarily. For Kyiv, the potential transfer of territories also remains a fundamental issue. Zelensky has repeatedly pointed out that the Constitution of Ukraine does not allow the president to unilaterally relinquish Ukrainian territories. In addition to the legal aspect of the issue, Kyiv also speaks of military risks. The Ukrainian side fears that transferring to Russia areas that its army has not been able to capture during hostilities could significantly worsen Ukraine's defensive position. If Moscow subsequently violates the peace agreement, these territories, as feared in Kyiv, could turn into a springboard for a new offensive and attempts to seize additional areas of the country. Thus, the territorial issue remains one of the key obstacles that American mediators will have to overcome if negotiations indeed transition to a new format. ## "Trump is Capable of Doing the Impossible" Kushner was also asked about previous peace initiatives that ultimately failed to bring an end to the war. In response, he expressed confidence in Trump's ability to achieve results where previous attempts had failed. "I think President Trump has already shown that he is capable of doing things that were considered impossible. No matter how much he is criticized in the press or by other critics. He wants to achieve results and will try to do so," Kushner replied. Thus, after consecutive meetings of the American delegation first with Putin in Moscow and then with Zelensky in Kyiv, Washington signals what the next stage of diplomatic activity might look like. The US wants to try to gather representatives from Russia and Ukraine at the same table again and return to a trilateral format for negotiations. However, for now, it is primarily about statements and diplomatic signals. Neither the conditions for a possible compromise, nor the specific content of the peace plan, nor the date of a potential trilateral meeting have been officially announced. But Kushner claims that the idea of returning to such a format has already been discussed with both Moscow and Kyiv. Washington hopes that the first results of this work may appear "very soon."
