Kushner, Witkoff Express Optimism for a ‘Good Resolution’ in Russia-Ukraine War, But Putin, Zelensky No Closer to Agreement

Hearing encouraging language but finding no breakthrough in peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky is calling on Congress to pass a sanctions bill to put more pressure on President Vladimir Putin even after the two sides agreed to restore stalled negotiations.The bill — the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act of 2026 — is named for the late senator who died over the summer on the same day that he flew home from Ukraine where he had been meeting with Mr. Zelensky. It would grant President Trump sweeping new new powers to impose tariffs on nations that do business with Russia“The Ukrainian side is counting on the efforts of Lindsey Graham, a great friend of Ukraine,” Mr. Zelensky said at a press conference he held with Mr. Trump’s top diplomatic envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. The two had traveled to Kyiv for Sunday talks after meeting a day earlier with Mr. Putin at Moscow.“The American side did not raise this issue today, and we did not discuss it with them. However, the Senate has been quite active and positive in its assessment of this package,” he said. The four-and-a-half-year war between the neighboring nations has shown little signs of abating even as the envoys conduct shuttle diplomacy to resume talks that stalled in January. The elements of resumed negotiations reportedly include a complete ceasefire, no admittance of Ukraine into NATO, new elections and constitutional amendments, limits to Ukraine’s armed forces and ratification of a peace treaty through a special procedure at the United Nations. Mr. Zelensky signaled openness to coming to a peaceful resolution with the Russians but has made clear that he wants to see a “dignified, reliable, and lasting peace” that includes security and economic guarantees for Ukraine to recover and rebuild, including from Europe. However, the Ukrainian president explicitly rejected any discussion of the withdrawal of forces from Donbas or any discussion of handing over the disputed territory at the heart of the conflict. Mr. Zelensky accused Mr. Putin of using Duma elections later this month to increase attacks against Ukraine and predicted that he will follow up with “a mobilization exclusively for this sector” after the vote.“Many geopolitical issues are being decided there. And our guys are doing a great job by giving diplomacy a chance. Without a strong position on the battlefield, there will be nothing but ultimatums,” he said.Mr. Kushner suggested that Mr. Putin could end up with some concessions, a position that elicited barely contained anger from Mr. Zelensky and other observers who say Mr. Putin should pay for his aggression. Asked if the United States would put more pressure on Mr. Putin if the current round of negotiations didn’t reach resolution, Mr. Witkoff repeated his expectations that the war would be solved diplomatically, not kinetically. “We came to see President Putin first. We needed to hear where he stood. We have good, concrete conservations with him,” Mr. Witkoff said. “Both sides have to come to a resolution here.” He added that they helped begin a process to “narrow” the issues in contention and open lines of communication.Mr. Kushner also expressed optimism that a “win-win” scenario could come out of the talks. “In the business world, you think about things in the context of ‘win-win.’ You know, how do you create opportunities for both sides to do what’s in their interest,” Mr. Kushner said. While war is a negative sum game, business is a positive sum game, he said. The envoys are pursuing a “positive dialogue” that would enable Mr. Putin to achieve some objectives for his country. That comparison rankled a former ambassador to Russia under President Obama, Michael McFaul, who suggested Mr. Kushner use a different metaphor than a business deal to describe the negotiating process. “Mr. Kushner, Putin started this war. Speaking in the language of win-win business deals about war and peace means that you are ready to reward military conquest and the slaughter of innocents,” he wrote in a post on X.Mr. Zelensky “is rightly and utterly disgusted with the Americans talking about Putin’s ‘aspirations,’” added a former Republican congressman and critic of Mr. Trump, Joe Walsh. “F— Putin and his aspirations. He invaded a sovereign nation. He needs to get the f— out of that sovereign nation. All of it. But alas, America has a president who’s on Putin’s side,” he added.Even as the leaders of both countries met with the Americans, the two sides continued to lob drones and missiles at one another. Ukraine’s air force reported Sunday that it had intercepted 82 of 108 drones and six missiles launched by Russia overnight. Russia’s Defense Ministry countered that it had shot down 258 Ukrainian drones over its regions as well as over the Crimean Peninsula that Russia occupies and the Black and Azov Seas.Mr. Trump has outsourced a great deal of peacemaking efforts to Mr. Kushner, his son-in-law, and Mr. Witkoff, a close friend and business associate. The relationships are viewed as a strength by many as they have tried to resolve conflicts not only between Russia and Ukraine but with Israel and Palestinians in Gaza and with the Iranians. Asked about their recent lack of success on all these fronts, including the delayed demilitarization of the Gaza Strip and their inability to close a deal to end the war with Iran, Mr. Kushner pointed to his first-term record negotiating the Abraham Accords normalizing Israel’s relationship with several Arab states, and the renegotiation of North American Free Trade Agreement, which later became the U.S., Mexico, and Canada Trade Agreement that the president has now largely abandoned. “Working with President Trump in the first term, obviously we achieved a lot of unthinkable things,” Mr. Kushner asserted. He dismissed concerns about the lack of progress in peace between Israel and Gaza, saying Gaza has been dysfunctional for a long time. “It was basically built by NGOs and terrorists,” Mr. Kushner said, calling it a “dystopian place.” He also blamed the “crazy” election season in Israel for causing some officials to be “irrational.” “These things take time. These are some of the hardest conflicts,” Mr. Kushner added. As the envoys attempt to find carrots and sticks to move the process along between Russia and Ukraine, the sanctions bill Mr. Zelensky seeks has so far languished in the House after passing the Senate with broad, bipartisan support. House Democrats have raised concerns about handing Mr. Trump additional authorities. “We are counting on a vote. During our meetings with Senator Richard Blumenthal, he said that, in their view, the package has every chance of passing,” Mr. Zelensky said.

Kushner, Witkoff Express Optimism for a ‘Good Resolution’ in Russia-Ukraine War, But Putin, Zelensky No Closer to Agreement

Kushner, Witkoff Express Optimism for a ‘Good Resolution’ in Russia-Ukraine War, But Putin, Zelensky No Closer to Agreement

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