Push to end the Ukraine war? Trump sends mediators

The situation at a glance

Push to end the Ukraine war? Trump sends mediators

The US negotiators Witkoff and Kushner are supposed to travel first to Moscow and then to Kiev. Are the long-stalled negotiations about an end to the Russian war of aggression gaining momentum again?

Negotiations about an end to the Ukraine war could get moving again with US mediation. The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced a visit by US special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law Donald Trump, Jared Kushneron weekends. What is discussed is that both first Moscow visit and for the first time ever on Sunday Kyiv travel, said Zelenskyj in a video message. There was initially no official confirmation of media reports about the start of an alleged ceasefire at the weekend.

The Russian side kept a low profile. According to the Russian state news agency Tass, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded to the question of when Witkoff and Kushner were expected in Moscow: “I will not announce anything. When these contacts take place, we will inform about it.”

When asked by reporters at the White House, Trump confirmed that he had sent his two negotiators. He did not give any specific dates. Trump said they would bring a proposal to end the Ukraine war – he also failed to provide details on this. “We sent them there to see if we could achieve something,” he simply said.

As with previous mediation efforts USA During the war, the Republicans were optimistic that this could succeed. However, a real breakthrough has not yet been achieved – although Trump once announced that he could end the war within 24 hours.

Zelensky said the goal was to facilitate the most constructive and meaningful visit and negotiations with the US side so that this war could be brought to an end. He announced that the Ukraine – “as has been the case during previous diplomatic visits from the US side” – will ensure the security of Russian airspace so that negotiators can arrive safely. He promised that there would be no air strikes from the Ukrainian side. Russia must react in a mirror image, said Zelensky. However, on Saturday night there were again air alerts and reports of explosions in the greater Kiev area.

There had previously been unconfirmed reports that the two US mediators had only become Kremlin chiefs Vladimir Putin in Moscow and then wanted to meet Zelensky in Kyiv. According to the New York Times, negotiations about the trip dragged on for weeks. The US government has insisted that the Ukrainians temporarily stop their drone attacks on Moscow and the Russian energy infrastructure while Trump’s negotiators are in Russia. Conversely, the Russians were asked to suspend the rocket attacks on Kiev, the newspaper wrote.