Zelensky Rejects Russian Ultimatums, Prepares For Hard Winter War After US Envoys Visit

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that the war with Russia "at the moment" looked likely to continue into winter, following talks in Kyiv with two senior envoys of US President Donald Trump. Both Zelensky and US envoy Steve Witkoff offered upbeat assessments of the discussions, though neither side announced any breakthrough toward ending the more than four-year conflict, which has left Kyiv under sustained Russian bombardment since Moscow's full-scale invasion began in February 2022. The talks marked the first visit to the Ukrainian capital by Witkoff, Trump's business ally, and Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, despite months of shuttle diplomacy between Washington, Moscow and Kyiv.

The two envoys traveled to Kyiv by train a day after holding more than three hours of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, a meeting both sides had described as "substantive." Sunday's visit represented the highest-level trip by a US official to Ukraine since Trump began his second term, according to Axios, underscoring a renewed diplomatic push even as the outcome remained inconclusive. Zelensky, greeting the envoys in central Kyiv, said it was "very important that the delegation has arrived to see us," adding that Ukraine had "been waiting a long time" for the visit and thanking Trump for allowing his envoys to travel despite the ongoing war.

Following the initial bilateral session, the discussions expanded to include national security advisers from the United Kingdom, France and Germany, who joined Zelensky, Witkoff and Kushner for a second round of talks in the Ukrainian capital. "We are grateful that the Europeans are with us today," Zelensky said. "Here we are all on the same side." He said Ukraine's negotiating team, which included presidential Chief of Staff Kyrylo Budanov, his deputy Serhii Kyslytsia, parliamentary faction leader David Arakhamia and foreign intelligence chief Rustem Umerov, planned further sessions with the US, France and Germany, though he did not elaborate on specifics or a timeline.

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Speaking to reporters after the talks concluded, Zelensky said Ukraine hoped to reach agreements with its American partners and was counting on continued backing from European allies "if the war continues in winter — and this is how it appears at the moment." He described the overall tone of the meetings as positive despite the grim assessment of the war's near-term trajectory. Witkoff, for his part, characterized the discussions as "substantive" and "meaningful," saying both Russia and Ukraine would need to make compromises to reach a settlement. "We think we have the ingredients to get to that place," he said, adding that the American delegation remained "encouraged" and intended to keep negotiating "as long as it takes." Kushner said the trip had yielded new approaches for moving the process forward, telling reporters, "I think we've learned a lot from the trip," though he offered few additional details.

A central obstacle to any settlement remains Moscow's territorial demands. Russia has said it wants not only the Ukrainian territory it currently occupies but also additional land it claims as historically Russian to be formally recognized as its own — terms that Kyiv has repeatedly called unacceptable. According to a source familiar with the discussions cited by Axios, Zelensky used the meetings to outline Ukrainian preparations for continuing the war through the winter months, while Kushner and Witkoff stressed that Washington wants to see a breakthrough before the cold season sets in. The diplomatic push comes as Ukraine braces for another difficult winter, having endured a sustained Russian aerial campcampaign against its energy infrastructure last year that destroyed roughly nine gigawatts of power generation capacity nationwide.

Officials cited by the Kyiv Independent said the country is also facing a critical shortage of American-made interceptor missiles needed to defend its grid against further strikes. Zelensky noted that Ukraine had prepared to make its airports operational for the envoys' visit, but ongoing Russian strikes ruled out that option, forcing the delegation to travel by rail instead aboard a train marked "Peace Express." Following the talks, Ukrainian Railways confirmed that Witkoff and Kushner's special train had departed Kyiv, while officials said additional rounds of discussions involving the United States and its European partners were expected in the days ahead as the broader effort to revive a peace process continues.

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