Sunday marked the first time the U.S. envoys had traveled to Ukraine since Mr. Trump returned to office with a pledge to solve the conflict.
Kushner, who is Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, told reporters on Sunday that the president has been following the developments of the meetings “very closely” and is working hard to “find a pathway to end this war.”
“But not just to end the conflict. What President Trump’s been very focused on is how do we create a framework that could actually build, lead to a durable peace,” he added.
After two rounds of discussion with the U.S. officials, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the goal was a “just, fair peace” that would ensure there was “never an opportunity to resume aggression against Ukraine.” He said the next round of talks later Sunday would bring in national security advisers from Britain, France and Germany.
“We’ve had very meaningful discussion, substantive, important, and we’re very encouraged,” Witkoff said, though he acknowledged that Russia and Ukraine will need to make “compromises” to end the war.
“It’s going to take both sides to make some compromises and narrow the issues between them and we think we have the ingredients to get to that place,” he added. “It is very difficult, but we are committed, we care, and we hope all of that leads to a successful, peaceful diplomatic resolution.”
A senior Ukrainian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak publicly, told The Associated Press that much of the discussion was focused on “how to get through the winter and what can be done before then.”
Zelenskyy said that while there was a “positive assessment” of talks, the war with Russia “at the moment” looked likely to continue this winter.
“We very much hope that we will be able to reach agreements with our American partners, and we are counting on the support of our European partners – if the war continues in winter, and this is how it appears at the moment – but even so, the teams today have a positive assessment of our future prospects,” Zelenskyy said.
No breakthroughs in Moscow
Witkoff and Kushner held a three-hour meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday in Moscow, where they “discussed substantive plans for next steps, which will be announced in the coming weeks,” according to a White House official.
Prior to Witkoff and Kushner’s departure, Mr. Trump told reporters the envoys were traveling to Ukraine and Russia with a proposal to end the conflict. Mr. Trump said they had had “an idea for peace,” and that “there may be a good chance that we’ll do it.”
After the meeting, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said in a statement that “our American colleagues made serious preparations for this trip,” and they had “also formulated a number of ideas regarding possible paths to a settlement,” but did not elaborate on what those might be.
At the start of the meeting in Moscow, which was captured on video, Putin asked Kushner and Witkoff to pass on his warm wishes and gratitude to Mr. Trump, and described the situation in Ukraine as “not simple.”
Ushakov added that the talks also discussed in “some detail” potential deals between the U.S. and Russia that would be “mutually beneficial.”
Both Ukraine and Russia agreed Saturday to pause strikes while the envoys were in the country to allow for talks to take place.
“Putin has ordered that no strikes be carried out against Kyiv for three days,” presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s Tass news agency, saying the decision was tied to Witkoff and Kushner’s planned visit to the Ukrainian capital. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy mirrored the decision by halting strikes until Monday.
In his Sunday prayer, Pope Leo XIV renewed his appeal for peace in Ukraine and said he hopes the negotiations will bring results.
“I hope that the efforts undertaken in recent days to resume negotiations will bear concrete fruit and make way for diplomacy,” he told the gathered faithful in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican.
The White House official also told CBS News that the U.S. delegation thanked Putin for the release of U.S. Marine veteran Robert Gilman, a 32-year-old teacher who had been imprisoned in Russia since 2022. Gilman was freed and allowed to return home last month. Before his release, Gilman was hospitalized in serious condition after he had allegedly been subjected to severe mistreatment, according to Global Reach, an organization that worked to free him.
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