New US peace proposals 'more effective' - Ukraine

Updated / Monday, Getty US envoys Jared Kushner, Steve Witkoff and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a joint press conference in Kyiv The United States envoys have brought new, "more effective" proposals on ending the war with Russia to Ukraine, a senior Ukrainian presidential official said. Yesterday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had said the war with Russia looked likely to continue into the winter. While both he and the US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had given upbeat assessments of the talks, neither announced any breakthroughs on ending the conflict. But the senior Ukrainian official said, "It's not the same as it was before. This one now is more effective. This is actually the most important part." Mr Witkoff, who is US President Donald Trump's business ally, and Mr Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law, travelled to Kyiv a day after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow - the latest of several visits to the city. Ukraine's rail operator announced their departure from Kyiv in a post on Telegram early this morning, accompanied by a photo of the two envoys' standing under a station sign announcing the 'Peace Express'. Ukrainian officials wait under a railway sign reading 'Peace Express' to greet US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner Yesterday's visit to Kyiv was their first to the Ukrainian capital, which has been enduring deadly Russian strikes for more than four years. Mr Zelensky said, "We very much hope that we will be able to reach agreements with our American partners, and we are counting on the support of our European partners if the war continues in winter - and this is how it appears at the moment." Mr Zelensky also said Ukraine would hold talks with the US, France and Germany, but did not elaborate. And he repeated his call that only a meeting between the two leaders could solve territorial issues. Thanking the US envoys for their visit, Mr Zelensky wrote on X, "The main thing is to achieve peace for Ukraine - a dignified, reliable, and lasting peace. We are directing all our efforts toward this." 'On same side' Russia occupies large swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine and the Kremlin told the Americans on Saturday it was feeling "confident" it would advance more. Russia has said it wants not just the territories it occupies but the land it claims as Russian to be recognised as its own - terms unacceptable to Ukraine.