“Substantial progress” for trilateral negotiations with Moscow and Kyiv

“Fprayed for substantial progress, including progress towards new trilateral talks,” wrote on social media Facebook Steve Witkoff, who traveled with Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, referring to future negotiations between the United States, Russia and Ukraine.

“President Trump is working hard to end the conflict and achieve lasting peace,” he added.

Witkoff and Kushner met Saturday in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and then traveled to Kyiv for the first time on Sunday, where they met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The aim was to resume the United States-mediated diplomatic efforts to end the conflict triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

European representatives — French, British and German — also attended these meetings on Sunday in Kiev, confirmed Zelensky and Witkoff.

The mediation efforts undertaken by Washington since Donald Trump's return to the White House for a second presidential term in January 2025 led to several rounds of talks between Moscow and Kyiv in 2025, but they did not produce results, and the process had been paralyzed since the United States and Israel started the war against Iran on 28 February.

At the meetings they held on Sunday separately with European representatives, Trump’s two envoys reported “a renewed Russian willingness to negotiate,” France’s presidency announced today.

“ The Americans told us that there was a renewed willingness on the part of Russia to negotiate after the elections to the Duma (the lower chamber of the Russian parliament, from 18 to 20 September) and that, in this context, we should prepare for a new start of negotiations,” said the Elisha Palace at a telephone conference with the media.

Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner reported on Sunday to Volodymyr Zelensky and, in a separate session, to E3 representatives (Germany, France and the United Kingdom) the meeting they held the day before with Vladimir Putin.

Trump’s envoys presented to the two parties in conflict proposals classified as “effective” on the Ukrainian side to try to end the war triggered by the Russian invasion of the neighbouring country on 24 February 2022.

However, “they have not specified the parameters of these negotiations” for Europeans, and neither have the US proposals been made public to date.

The Elisha considered “encouraging” the “performance of US negotiators” in the conflict in Ukraine – in recent months haunted by the war in Iran – the fact that they have “reported a Russian willingness to resume negotiations” and that Europeans have been “included in the conversation”.

The Kremlin said today “not to exclude” a resumption of negotiations in the “tripartite format” (Russia, Ukraine and the United States), although adding that it is “still too early to talk about the exact location and date”.

“It is a positive thing,” the French Presidency welcomed, however, stressing that it will be necessary “to ensure that Europeans and Ukrainians stand firm in these negotiations and that coordination with the Americans remains, including on the most sensitive issues”, such as the issue of Ukraine’s surrender to Russia of territories whose annexation it claims.

This relaunch of the dialogue “does not allow us to conclude that everything is suddenly resolved, but offers material for reflection, an opportunity for diplomacy”, the Elisha welcomed.

“ None of us can afford to ignore the slightest opportunity to advance to robust negotiations based on credible parameters,” the French Presidency added, stressing that “war is expensive” for everyone.

On Tuesday, a video conference meeting of the Ukrainian Defence Contact Group, also known as the Ramstein format, was held in April 2022, attended by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, the German Defense Ministers (Boris Pistorius), the United Kingdom (Wes Streeting) and Ukraine (Evgeniy Khmara) and the U.S. Undersecretary of Defense, Elbridge Colby.