Today, Sunday, from the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, American envoy Steve Witkoff expressed his optimism about the course of the talks aimed at ending the war between Russia and Ukraine, stressing that the American delegation is looking forward to making further progress after discussions that he described as “substantial and important” with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his team.
Witkoff said, in joint statements with Jared Kushner after the first round of talks: “We had a very productive, substantive and important discussion, and we are very optimistic and look forward to continuing this discussion as long as necessary.”
He stressed that Washington is working on preparing “new ideas” to advance negotiations and reach an agreement to end the war, noting that the American side is “very satisfied” with the results of the discussions held by the delegation in both Moscow and Kiev.
In turn, Kushner said that Washington will make every effort to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, stressing its desire to reach a sustainable peace between the two countries.
He announced that the United States is working on preparing a “peace package” aimed at ending the war, in addition to formulating new proposals to advance the settlement process.
For his part, Zelensky announced the end of the first round of discussions with Witkov and Kushner, explaining that the next round would include Ukraine, the United States, France, Germany, and Britain.
In this context, Al-Arabiya/Al-Hadath correspondent reported that European advisors will join the second round of discussions in Kiev.
Zelensky indicated that he discussed with Witkov and Kushner his country’s needs for air defense missiles and economic support, pointing out that the war may continue during the winter.
The Ukrainian president also revealed Kiev’s desire to hold a tripartite meeting with Russia and the United States, explaining that his country is waiting for Moscow’s response to this proposal.
On Sunday, Witkov and Kushner arrived in Kiev on their first visit to Ukraine, in a new attempt to end the war with Russia that has been going on for more than 4 years, the day after they met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow as part of an American effort to restart the diplomatic track.
The talks in Moscow continued for about 3 hours, without announcing a decisive breakthrough, before the American delegation moved to Kiev.
These talks came within the framework of ongoing Russian-American contacts regarding the Ukrainian crisis, and research into ways to reach a settlement and stop the war.
US-led diplomatic efforts to end the war have faltered in recent months, with Washington’s focus shifting to the war with Iran.
The Russian-Ukrainian war turned into the worst conflict in Europe since World War II, and resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians and hundreds of thousands of soldiers.
