Donald Trump has passed along his “personal regards” to Volodymyr Zelensky as what US officials described as “substantive” discussions with the Ukrainian president began.
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner took part in the latest round of peace efforts alongside European security advisers, following talks with Russia on Saturday.
Mr Witkoff said the meetings had been “very meaningful,” adding: “Substantive. Important.”
“And we have been very encouraged and we look forward to continuing this day as long as it takes,” he said.
Mr Kushner said the US president had asked the negotiators to deliver his “personal regards” to his Ukrainian counterpart.
The envoy also expressed thanks to British national security adviser Jonathan Powell for his involvement in the talks.
According to reports, a senior Ukrainian official said two rounds of talks have already been held, with a third meeting now beginning alongside European security advisers from countries including the UK, France and Germany.
The discussions are understood to be focused on “how to get through the winter and what can be done before then”.
Mr Witkoff and Mr Kushner arrive at a railway station in Kyiv ahead of peace talks with Mr Zelensky on Sunday
The US envoys were pictured with the Ukrainian president as the arrived following talks with Putin in Moscow yesterday
Donald Trump’s son-in-law Mr Kushner embraces Mr Zelensky with a hug as the US negotiators arrive in Kyiv
Their visit to Kyiv on Saturday comes after Russia continued to pound Ukraine with fresh strikes overnight despite promising to pause its attacks.
Vladimir Putin had said he wouldn’t launch drones on Kyiv for 72 hours from midnight last night.
But Russia has continued to launch drones on other parts of the country such as Zaporizhzhia where a 74-year-old man was killed and three others were injured.
The Ukrainian air force has said Russia launched a total of 108 drones overnight, with 82 shot down.
Russian drones reportedly hit 11 locations across Ukraine in the attacks.
Mr Witkoff and Mr Kushner have now landed in Ukraine for negotiations with Mr Zelensky after arriving on a train dubbed the ‘peace express’.
Meanwhile British, French and German national security advisers are in Kyiv on Sunday, ahead of talks between the US and Ukraine, a source has claimed.
The person, cited by Reuters as being familiar with the matter, did not specify which meetings the advisers would participate in.
Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Jared Kushner, Steve Witkoff and members of negotiating groups visit the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv
Mr Putin met with Mr Witkoff and Mr Kushner for closed-door talks on Saturday
The trip comes after the peace envoys conducted top-secret talks with Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday
Mr Zelensky has confirmed that European security advisers will join the talks.
It comes as Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov warns Nato of ‘the start of a real war’ after Germany accused the Kremlin of being behind the attempted drone attack on Leipzig Airport on August 4.
He added that Friedrich Merz is ‘in effect, declaring war on us’ after the chancellor’s previous statements about ‘making Germany the leading military power in Europe once again’.
It comes after the peace envoys conducted top-secret talks with Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday.
Mr Witkoff and Mr Kushner spent over three hours negotiating amid Donald Trump’s renewed bid to end the war.
Mr Putin met with Mr Witkoff and Mr Kushner for closed-door talks where he described the conflict as a ‘complicated situation’, but praised his American counterpart for wanting to end the war.
‘Understanding that he is entering a difficult situation, he nevertheless does not stop his efforts to help bring about a settlement and to make his contribution to resolving the Russian-Ukrainian conflict,’ Mr Putin said of Mr Trump.
Afterward, Mr Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov described the talks as constructive, frank and useful to journalists, but didn’t discuss specific outcomes.
He said Moscow offered its ‘comprehensive assessment’ of the battlefield situation in Ukraine, but also that the conversation was not purely focused on Russia’s invasion.
‘Economic issues and potentially large, mutually beneficial joint projects for Russia and America were discussed in considerable detail,’ Mr Ushakov said.
Following the top-secret talks, Trump’s negotiators thanked Mr Putin for protecting them while on their visit to the Kremlin, adding that they made ‘incredible memories’ with the Russian leader on Saturday.
They told Mr Putin that Mr Trump had sent his ‘best wishes’ and that the US president was grateful that Mr Putin agreed to temporarily cease attacks ahead of their visit to Kyiv today.
Mr Putin and Zelensky both agreed to pause strikes on each other’s capitals while the talks took place.
‘Putin has ordered that no strikes be carried out against Kyiv for three days, starting at midnight today,’ presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russia’s Tass news agency.
Zelensky said Ukraine was prepared to halt strikes on Moscow until Monday. He said he spoke on Saturday afternoon with the US delegation after their arrival in Moscow.
‘From now through the end of Saturday, as well as on Sunday and Monday, Ukraine is ready to refrain from strikes on Moscow, and we expect the Russians to do the same regarding Kyiv,’ he said.
Washington’s push to end the fighting has lost momentum as US attention has been focused for the past six months on the Iran war.
‘I sent Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, two great negotiators. They’ve done a great job, and we sent them over to see whether or not we can get something done. And there may be a good chance that we’ll do it,’ Mr Trump said.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said he was prepared to halt strikes on Moscow until Monday
Vladimir Putin continued to target other parts of Ukraine overnight despite agreeing to a pause in attacks on Kyiv for 72 hours
Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner (left) and US envoy Steve Witkoff (second from left) meet Putin at the Kremlin
‘They’re bringing with them a proposal to end the war.’
The US president would not say whether the plan involved Ukraine ceding territory as he has previously suggested, but added: ‘We have an idea for peace.’
Mr Witkoff and Mr Kushner last visited Moscow in January, when they also held talks with Mr Putin at the Kremlin.
Before the US negotiators arrived, the Ukrainian president said this morning: ‘A meeting with our negotiating team ahead of the meeting with the US president’s envoys.
‘We are ready for the conversation. Ukraine has always been and will remain constructive.
‘We are interested in bringing the end of the war closer. Peace is needed. Security guarantees are needed. A dignified character of the postwar peace is needed.
‘Our proposals are ready. It is important to work in a coordinated, substantive, and realistic manner. Glory to Ukraine!’
Russia’s deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Sunday that Moscow has not ruled out a trilateral meeting between the presidents of Russia, the US and China, state news agency TASS reported.
However, before moving on to the actual preparations for the meeting, it is necessary to understand what its agenda will be, Mr Ryabkov said.
Earlier this month, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov raised the possibility of such a meeting between Mr Putin, Mr Trump and Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in Shenzhen, China, in November.
Mr Ryabkov also issued a warning to the US over how to bring the four-year war to an end.
He said: ‘The key question is the extent to which the US administration is prepared to invest in finding a real solution to the current crisis, considering the realities on the ground.’
This, according to Ryabkov, was a situation not developing in Kyiv’s favour, Russian state news agency Tass reported.
The US President said the envoys have ‘done a great job’ during negotiations so far
Ukrainian firefighters respond to a blaze after a drone attack on Kyiv on Saturday
‘Here, the main question boils down to how the substance of the meeting will be formulated, and what we can expect as a result.’
It comes after Zelensky announced on Saturday that Russia carried out ‘deliberate’ strikes on Ukrainian airports overnight in Kyiv and Boryspil.
‘Clearly, these Russian strikes on the airports are a reaction to the discussions and preparations for the possibility of the U.S. side using an aircraft to travel to Ukraine and land at Kyiv Airport or Boryspil Airport,’ he wrote on X.
He added: ‘We have taken note of this Russian move, and next week we will adjust our operation accordingly regarding Russian airspace, which has become dangerous because of our drones and missiles in the sky.
‘Of course, there are and will be no threats to diplomacy from our side. Ukraine is interested in bringing peace closer. Russia will be held accountable for what it does.’
The Ukrainian president added that four people were killed and five others injured after a Russian strike in Kamianske, in the Dnipro region.
Peace efforts have stalled due to Washington’s war with Iran, while Moscow and Kyiv have intensified long-range attacks, driving up civilian casualties to levels not seen since the start of fighting.
