Witkoff and Kushner Get Confronted in Kyiv

US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner faced direct questions about their treatment of Vladimir Putin and Washington’s willingness to pressure Russia during their first official visit to Kyiv on Sunday.Ukrainian journalist Dmitry Gordon asked Witkoff whether Putin had been deceiving him during their repeated meetings and whether he found it repugnant to sit with a ruler he described as an international war criminal.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.Witkoff did not directly address either question. He said Putin had always treated the American delegation with respect and argued that maintaining relationships with both Russia and Ukraine was necessary for negotiations.Kushner was separately asked whether Washington would increase pressure on Moscow if its latest diplomatic effort failed. He did not specify any possible sanctions or other consequences, instead describing US President Donald Trump’s preferred approach as seeking a “win-win” outcome.Witkoff’s warm treatment of PutinThe questions followed months of scrutiny over Witkoff’s unusually warm public posture toward the Russian ruler.During his latest meeting with Putin in Moscow on Saturday, Witkoff spoke about the “incredible” stories and memories that the participants would have after retiring.“Yours will be right at the top of it all,” Witkoff told Putin.In a 2025 interview with Tucker Carlson, Witkoff said he liked Putin, described him as “super smart” and said: “I don’t regard Putin as a bad guy.” Other Topics of Interest Ukraine Counts on US Passing New Russia Sanctions, Zelensky Says President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine counts on the US passing a major new sanctions package, though it was not raised in talks with US envoys. He also repeated Putin’s claim that the Russian leader had visited a church to pray for Trump following the assassination attempt against him. Putin subsequently sent Trump a commissioned portrait through Witkoff.During the same interview, Witkoff accepted false Russian claims about Ukrainian territory. He agreed with Carlson’s assertion that Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev had simply transferred Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia to Ukraine.However, only Crimea was transferred from the Russian Soviet republic to the Ukrainian Soviet republic under Khrushchev in 1954. The other four regions were already part of Soviet Ukraine.Witkoff also cited Russia’s occupation “referendums” as evidence that residents of Ukrainian territories wanted Russian rule. The votes were held under military occupation without credible international monitoring and were declared invalid by the UN General Assembly.First official visit to KyivWitkoff and Kushner arrived in Kyiv by train from Poland after spending more than three hours with Putin in Moscow the previous day.The visit was their first to Ukraine in their capacity as Trump’s peace envoys. Witkoff told reporters that he had traveled to Moscow approximately eight times for meetings with Putin and other Russian officials.President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the envoys outside Saint Sophia’s Cathedral in central Kyiv before the delegations began several hours of talks.Three rounds of negotiations were held with national security advisers from Britain, France, and Germany joining the final round.The discussions covered possible renewed negotiations with Russia, territorial questions, security guarantees, air-defense supplies, and support for Ukraine’s energy system before winter.Zelensky said Ukraine required additional Patriot systems and that a strong Ukrainian military would remain one of the country’s principal long-term security guarantees.The sides also discussed a postwar “prosperity plan” and agreed to pursue another meeting involving Ukraine, the US, and European representatives.Witkoff said the Americans had brought “new ideas” from Moscow and hoped that another round of US-mediated talks between Ukraine and Russia could be announced shortly. He did not disclose the proposals.Gordon asks whether Putin is deceiving WitkoffDuring the press conference, Gordon thanked the American envoys for their efforts before directing a series of questions to Witkoff.He asked whether Putin had been deceiving Witkoff throughout their meetings and whether Russia understood only “the language of force.”Gordon then asked: “Do you not find it repugnant to sit at the same table as Putin?”The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin in 2023 over the alleged unlawful deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children.Nevertheless, Witkoff responded by emphasizing the importance of communication.“We have always received respect from President Putin,” he said, according to Gordon’s publication.Witkoff said that without relationships and effective communication with both parties, the chances of achieving a peaceful settlement would be small.He added that his and Kushner’s task was to bring Ukraine and Russia together, narrow their differences, and maintain communication channels.Witkoff did not say whether he believed Putin had misled him or responded to Gordon’s description of the Russian leader.Kushner wants a “win-win” scenarioKushner faced a separate question about whether Washington was prepared to increase pressure on Russia if no diplomatic breakthrough was achieved.He did not directly address the possibility of further sanctions or other pressure.Kushner said Trump approached negotiations through his business background by looking for a “win-win” result and creating opportunities for both sides to pursue their interests.He said Putin had objectives as well as broader aspirations for Russia that could be advanced after the war ended. Kushner described war as a negative-sum outcome and peace as a positive-sum one.The envoy said Trump wanted not only to stop the current fighting but also to create a framework for a durable settlement.Neither Kushner nor Witkoff identified what measures Washington might take if Russia rejected renewed negotiations or maintained its current territorial demands.No breakthrough in MoscowThe Kyiv visit followed Saturday’s Kremlin meeting, which Russian and American officials described as substantive but which produced no announced breakthrough.Putin gave no public indication that he was prepared to soften his demands. Kremlin officials said he continued to insist that any agreement address what Moscow calls the “root causes” of the war.The phrase is routinely used by Russia to demand Ukrainian neutrality, restrictions on Ukraine’s military, and an end to its NATO ambitions.Putin also expressed confidence that Russian forces could achieve Moscow’s objectives militarily. Kremlin-linked sources said Putin believed Russia could capture the remaining Ukrainian-held part of Donbas by the end of 2026.Russia continues to demand that Ukraine surrender territory its forces do not currently control, but Kyiv has rejected the demand.Witkoff nevertheless said the Moscow meeting had produced “a lot of progress,” while Kushner described the discussions as constructive and substantive.The envoys said they hoped to revive direct trilateral negotiations involving Ukraine, Russia, and the US. No date or location was announced, and Moscow has not publicly agreed to participate. Lesia Dubenko is a Ukrainian political scientist and analyst. A graduate of Lund University (MSc in European Affairs), she covers issues relating to international affairs, migration, and disinformation.