US and Ukraine negotiators say path to peace depends on Russia
Top negotiators from the United States and Ukraine said Friday that they had constructive discussions about ending the war in Ukraine, but that the path to peace depends on Russia.
“Real progress toward an agreement depends on Russia’s willingness to demonstrate a serious commitment to long-term peace, including steps toward de-escalation and a cessation of killings,” U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner said in a joint statement with Ukrainian negotiators.
During the meeting, the two sides “agreed on the framework of security arrangements” and discussed deterrence.
Discussions in Moscow on Tuesday failed to produce a compromise on a possible peace deal in the nearly four-year-old war.
The two-day meeting between Witkoff and Kushner and Ukrainian National Security Secretary Rustem Umerov and Brigadier General Andriy Hnatov was the sixth round of talks in two weeks. They will meet again on Saturday in Florida.
In their statement, the four men said Ukraine’s priority was “securing a settlement that protects its independence and sovereignty, guarantees the security of Ukrainians, and provides a stable basis for a prosperous democratic future.”
They also discussed the U.S. meeting earlier this week with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as the future of post-war Ukraine, which includes reconstruction of the battered country and economic initiatives with the United States.
Achieving a ceasefire and de-escalation of tensions are necessary to “prevent further aggression and enable the implementation of Ukraine’s comprehensive redevelopment plan, designed to make the nation stronger and more prosperous than before the war,” they said.
At least two major points of contention remain between Moscow and kyiv: the fate of Ukrainian territory seized by Russian forces and security guarantees for Ukraine.
Witkoff spent nearly five hours with Putin in Moscow on Tuesday in negotiations that the Kremlin said resulted in “no compromise” on ending the war. Kushner, a businessman and real estate investor who advised Trump during the president’s first term, also attended.
Trump said those negotiations were “reasonably good,” but it was too early to tell what would happen.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that “the world clearly feels that there is a real opportunity to end the war” but that negotiations must be “supported by pressure on Russia.”
