US mediators in Moscow and Kyiv: diplomats as fans

After a highly publicized mediation mission that took US President Donald Trump's negotiators, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, to Moscow on Friday and then to Kyiv, those involved left Ukraine again. What remains are unanswered questions and the feeling that the war will last beyond the winter. A breakthrough could not be achieved.

At least there are supposed to be new proposals and the USA apparently wants to revive the trilateral talks format between Washington, Moscow and Kyiv that has been interrupted for months. Since representatives of European countries were also at the table during the negotiations in Kyiv, it can be assumed that the Europeans will be included more in future negotiations.

No concrete results or suggestions were announced. The US special envoy Witkoff only said at a press conference in Kyiv that Russia and Ukraine must be prepared to compromise. Neither official Moscow nor official Kyiv explained specifically what was discussed in Moscow and Kyiv.

New ideas have been heard in Moscow, the Ukrainian portal obozrevatel.com quotes Steve Witkoff, who, however, did not want to go into further detail. Putin advisor Yuri Ushakov made similarly vague comments. Witkoff and Kushner “outlined a number of ideas about possible paths to an agreement,” he said.

President Volodymyr Zelensky also said American mediators had “some new ideas.” These would now have to be checked. However, not much concrete information was known in Kyiv either. What demands the US negotiators from Moscow had in store for the Ukrainian side can therefore only be assumed so far.

It was probably, among other things, about the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Donbass, a neutral status for Ukraine and further rights for the Russian language. Zelenskyj then said that it currently looks like the war will continue into the winter. Ukraine is therefore relying on an American “winter package” with additional support for air defense and the energy sector.

"The mission failed. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) everything went as expected - without concrete results," says political scientist Volodymyr Fesenko. But that's what a mission is. And that is why it must be continued. “The show must go on,” he continues, adding that perhaps the main actors should be changed.

He had previously criticized Steve Witkoff's "submissive" appearance towards Vladimir Putin. At the meeting with Putin in the Kremlin on September 5, 2026, Witkoff said that he and Jared Kushner had discussed before the conversation that in retirement they would remember all the incredible stories in their work - and the meetings with Putin would be at the top of them.

Activist Mustafa Nayyem made similarly negative comments about the two's visit to Moscow. Of course, diplomats have to be polite, Nayyem said on his Facebook page. But a diplomat shouldn't seem like a fan. “I'm scared,” comments Serhiy Jagodzinsky, blogger and professor at the European University in Kyiv. With the departure of Kuschner and Witkoff on Monday, the complete calm that prevailed during their stay in Kyiv will likely be over.

For three days, the residents of Kyiv and Moscow had no fear of air strikes, as Putin and Zelensky had committed not to attack their respective capitals for the duration of the three-day talks. In the past few days, the shops and shopping centers in Kyiv have been busier than they have been for a long time in the bright summer weather.