The son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, businessman Jared Kushner, at a press conference following negotiations with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, said that he and White House special envoy Steve Witkoff were instructed to draw up a “peace package” to resolve the conflict. In turn, Witkoff called the negotiations in Kyiv, where Trump envoys arrived for the first time, “meaningful” and “important.”
The Trump and Zelensky envoys did not mention specific ideas discussed at the talks in Kyiv or the day before in Moscow, where Witkoff and Kushner met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Against this background, an NBC News source in the White House said that some “meaningful plans” of the United States regarding Ukraine may be disclosed in the coming weeks.
Kushner emphasized that Trump is approaching the issue as a representative of business, and he, together with Witkoff, as well as a team from the State Department, the Pentagon and other departments, are looking for solutions that will be beneficial for all parties affected by the conflict.
“We discussed many ideas with President Putin that have not yet worked. However, we tried to find those elements that will help us reach a sustainable peace: what benefits can Russia gain, what can Ukraine benefit, and what can the world community benefit from,” Kushner explained the essence of the negotiations (quotes from the DRM News broadcast).
Trump's son-in-law added that, together with Witkoff, he proposes returning to the trilateral format of working group negotiations, which they consider productive. At the beginning of the year, such meetings between representatives of Russia, Ukraine and the United States were held in the UAE and Switzerland.
“I hope that progress can be made on this in the near future. I believe there is a need to discuss both major issues and smaller de-escalation measures,” Kushner said.
He added that for him and Witkoff this format was more convenient than the current meetings, since the negotiators directly exchanged ideas in Russian, without resorting to the services of intermediaries.
According to Kushner, past rounds of trilateral talks took place in a “friendly” atmosphere, despite the conflict. He suggested that in principle there are no “permanent enemies or permanent allies” in the world.
Answering a question about the possible timing of the end of the conflict, Kushner noted that the situation with any deal can develop unpredictably. According to him, many efforts are also being made “behind the scenes” of the negotiation process.
“Sometimes it happens soon, sometimes it doesn’t, but nothing will happen without these meetings and dialogue,” Trump’s envoy said.
