PHOTO: REUTERS
Trump says envoys Witkoff, Kushner heading abroad to discuss Ukraine peace
· The Straits Times- Donald Trump sent envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner abroad to negotiate a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
- Trump claimed the US has a concrete peace proposal but did not reveal its details or exact travel plans.
- Ukrainian President Zelensky confirmed the envoys would visit Moscow and then Ukraine, though the itinerary is still uncertain.
WASHINGTON - US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, are heading abroad to attempt to forge a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, the US president told reporters on Sept 4.
During comments in the Oval Office, Trump suggested the US had a fresh concrete proposal aimed at ending the war, which is now in its fifth year.
He did not, however, elaborate on what that proposal would be, nor did he say if Witkoff and Kushner would be travelling to Ukraine, Russia or both nations.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sept 4 said the two men would fly to Ukraine on Sept 6 after visiting Moscow.
“We have an idea for peace,” Trump said.
“I sent Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, two great negotiators. They’ve done a great job, and we sent them over to see whether or not we can get something done. And there may be a good chance that we’ll do it.”
The duo had been planning to travel to Moscow over the weekend followed by a visit to Kyiv, two sources previously told Reuters.
However, the itinerary has been in flux in recent days, and the Kyiv section of the journey was still not completely certain, one of the sources said on Sept 4.
The Trump administration’s attempts to settle the war in Ukraine have largely come to nothing, and negotiations stalled out in recent months.
In late August, Central Intelligence Agency director John Ratcliffe travelled to Moscow in part to press counterparts there to consider a settlement, Reuters and several other media outlets reported.
Most Western intelligence officials doubt Russian President Vladimir Putin is interested in a short-term deal, while Ukrainian intelligence believes he is in fact likely to escalate, rather than de-escalate the war in the near term.
A Russian drone hit the headquarters of Ukraine’s SBU security service in Kyiv on Sept 4 in one of the most high-profile targets struck during the war.
Witkoff, who is effectively the lead US negotiator with respect to the war in Ukraine, has travelled to Moscow numerous times but has not yet visited Ukraine. REUTERS