US special envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Sunday, expressing optimism about moving forward with a peace process between Ukraine and Russia. The two US officials had previously met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Moscow the day before, discussing potential peace deals. No specific details of a proposed plan were disclosed, but Kushner hinted at revisiting a trilateral format that was attempted six months ago. Ahead of their visit to Kyiv, the Kremlin carried out strikes on Ukrainian airports.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-07,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
US President Donald Trump has announced that his special envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, will be traveling to Russia and Ukraine this weekend to attempt to broker a peace deal between the two warring nations. According to Trump, they are bringing a proposal aimed at ending the war in its fifth year, although he did not elaborate on what the proposal entails. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed that he will meet with the envoys on Sunday after they visit Moscow on Saturday to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The trip comes as efforts to end the war appear to be gaining pace, but a gulf remains between the two sides. Trump's administration has provided billions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine, much of which was transferred free of charge, and now the US is asking Europe to retroactively pay for this assistance.
Witkoff and Kushner have led Trump's efforts to broker a peace deal, but their itinerary has been in flux, and the Kyiv section of their journey was still uncertain. The pair were initially due to arrive in Kyiv by plane, but it was reported that Witkoff is "too scared" to travel to Kyiv for peace talks.
The trip also comes as Trump made a series of comments on social media, including claiming that European countries should repay the US for past Ukraine aid and slamming reports of heavily depleted US munition stockpiles amid the separate war in Iran.
Written for “US-Russia-Ukraine Peace Efforts” on 2026-09-07,
grounded in this article and the 68 other(s) covering the same event.
US special envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff huddled with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Sunday and said they left optimistic that they could move the peace process forward.
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they → huddle → process
President Trump’s pair of peace pushers previously spent about three hours with Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday and expressed hope that they could get a deal going as both warring countries brace for a brutal winter.
“We came here, and I think we really feel good about what has happened in the conversations in Moscow and now the conversations here,” Witkoff said in Ukraine next to Zelensky.
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Witkoff → spend → Zelensky
Sunday marked Witkoff’s and Kushner’s first official visit on the ground in Ukraine.
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Sunday → mark → Ukraine
Witkoff made eight previous visits to Moscow to meet with the Russians over the past year and a half.
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Witkoff → make → year
Kushner briefly acknowledged stumbling blocks in their attempts to usher in peace between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza.
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Kushner → acknowledge → Gaza
“We’re working through some political issues in Israel.
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We → work → Israel
I think we agree with them on the end state,” Kushner said.
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Kushner → think → state
“They just have a crazy election.
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They → have → election
And that makes them a little irrational in certain regards.
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them → make → regards
But we’re very determined, and we’re working through these things.
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we → ’re → things
“By the way, we’re now starting to understand the scope of the militarization of Gaza.
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we → start → Gaza
And so demilitarization is not going to be easy,” he warned.
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he → go → ?
Ahead of Witkoff’s and Kushner’s trek to Ukraine, the Kremlin carried out strikes on the Kyiv and Boryspil international airports, according to Zelensky.
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Kremlin → carry → Zelensky
The two US special envoys took a train to Kyiv.
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envoys → take → Kyiv
“What President Trump’s been very focused on is how do we create a framework that could actually build lead to a durable peace,” Kushner said.
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Kushner → create → peace
“One thing Steve and I really thought would be productive is to go back to the trilateral format, which we were able to do about six months ago, and we’ve spoken with both parties,” Trump’s son-in-law added.
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law → think → parties
“And so hopefully we’ll have progress on that very soon.”
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we → have → that
No one publicly disclosed specific details of what a peace plan would look like.
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plan → disclose → what
Prior proposals ran into headwinds over key sticking points such as control of the Donbas region.
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proposals → run → region
Since the war started in 2022, Russia has been unable to take full control of the Donbas by force.
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Russia → start → force
Putin has demanded full control, but Zelensky has noted that Ukraine’s constitution precludes the Ukrainian president from surrendering territory.
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constitution → demand → territory
The Ukrainians also fear that surrendering territory that Russia has been unable to fully capture will make them militarily vulnerable if Moscow violates any deal and decides to pursue more land.
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Moscow → fear → land
“I think President Trump has a track record of doing impossible things,” Kushner said when asked about prior peace efforts that imploded.
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that → think → efforts
“It doesn’t matter how much he’ll get criticized by people in the press or different critics.
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he → matter → press
He wants to go after it.”
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He → want → it
The development came as US Energy Secretary Chris Wright warned that fallout from the war has led to high diesel prices.
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fallout → come → prices
“Diesel’s been impacted by a lot of factors, but the single biggest one there has been the Ukrainian destruction of Russian refineries,” Wright told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
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Wright → impact → Sunday
Today, they have banned any exports of diesel.”
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they → ban → diesel
US special envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday.
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envoys → meet → Sunday
US and Ukrainian officials are working on a peace plan to try end Russia's war on Ukraine.
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officials → work → Ukraine
The US officials said they are optimistic peace can be achieved but offered no specifics on progress.
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peace → say → progress
AFP via Getty Images
Zelensky welcomes the special envoys on their first official visit to his country.
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Zelensky → welcome → country
