U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are exerting pressure on both Moscow and Kyiv in an effort to secure concessions from both sides as part of talks to end the Russia-Ukraine war, the U.S. outlet Axios has reported, citing sources familiar with the process.
According to journalist Barak Ravid, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently held what he described as a “long and substantive” phone call with Witkoff and Kushner. The conversation reportedly focused on territorial issues and possible U.S. security guarantees for Ukraine.
One source told Axios that the discussion of territorial questions was “not easy.” Russia is said to be insisting that Ukraine withdraw its forces from the part of Donbas still controlled by Kyiv. “But the United States is trying to come up with new ideas to overcome this problem,” the outlet quoted another source as saying.
At the same time, Washington and Kyiv have made “significant progress” on security guarantees and are close to an agreement, although additional work is needed to ensure that “both sides interpret the security guarantees in a similar way,” according to the report.
Zelensky confirmed the call in a post on his Telegram channel, saying he had spoken together with Armed Forces Chief of General Staff Andriy Ihnatov and National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov.
“We have just had a long and substantive phone call with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. I am grateful for a very concrete and constructive conversation,” Zelensky wrote, without disclosing details.
The Ukrainian leader said the sides agreed on “next steps and formats” for further talks with the United States. “I am waiting for a detailed report from Rustem Umerov and General Ihnatov. We cannot discuss everything by phone, so our teams need to work through the ideas and proposals in detail,” he added.
Umerov and Ihnatov are currently in the United States to discuss Washington’s proposed plan for a peaceful settlement of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
