On September 6, 2026, three rounds of negotiations took place in Kyiv between the Ukrainian side and US Special Envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Following the meeting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, at a briefing, described the dialogue as "very substantive" and thanked the American guests for coming to the capital. Representatives of France, the United Kingdom, and Germany also took part in the talks, which, according to the head of state, underscores the importance of the European track within the overall settlement process.
Three Rounds and a Joke About Patriot
Zelensky reported that exactly three rounds of negotiations were held during the day, each dedicated to specific blocks of issues. At the briefing, the president allowed himself a touch of irony, saying that the American representatives "sent even better than Patriot systems for our citizens who are in the capital," and asked them to come more often. At the same time, he immediately emphasized that the issue of air defense remains "extremely important" for Ukraine and is not being taken off the agenda for even a single day.
Winter Package: Air Defense, Energy, and American LNG
The central practical issue of the meeting was preparation for the winter period. Zelensky acknowledged that "for now it looks" as if hostilities will continue in the winter as well, and it is precisely under this scenario that Ukraine is counting on the so-called winter support package. In detail, according to the president, three directions were discussed: strengthening air defense, supporting Ukraine's energy infrastructure, and ensuring access to significant volumes of American liquefied natural gas (LNG). "We are counting very much on such support — both air defense and energy support, and you know that we are counting on a serious volume and the opportunity to use American LNG," Zelensky stated, adding that he had discussed these positions "in absolute detail" with Witkoff, Kushner, and European partners.
Security Guarantees and Economic Recovery
A separate block of negotiations was devoted to security guarantees and Ukraine's postwar arrangement. Zelensky emphasized that the discussion is not only about the military and security component. "We are talking not only about security guarantees, but about economic guarantees for Ukraine — to recover, to rebuild," the president noted. According to him, partners understand the scale of the challenges that will face the country after the end of the conflict and are already discussing mechanisms to address them. The Ukrainian and American teams, as Zelensky stated, positively assess the possibilities for further joint work.
The American Side's Position: Kushner on Timelines and "Behind-the-Scenes" Efforts
At the briefing, Jared Kushner was asked whether he considered it possible to end the war by winter and whether Volodymyr Putin was ready for that. The American representative answered with a characteristic caveat: in the event of any agreement, it is impossible to have full confidence in the outcome until an agreement is reached. According to him, the process may end quickly or slowly, but without meetings and dialogue no progress can be achieved. Kushner emphasized that the American side is making significant efforts "behind the scenes" to create the proper conditions for reaching agreements, and acknowledged that this is a "very difficult task." Regarding Moscow's position, he noted that the Russian president has certain publicly stated goals and that, in his view, after resolving the war issue, Russia will be able to pursue its other aspirations as well. Kushner assured that the US will continue constructive dialogue and cooperation with European partners, who, according to him, are actively working on finding ways to advance the negotiations.
Contradictory Data
The statements of the parties contain a certain inconsistency in the assessment of timeframes. Zelensky directly states that "for now it looks" as if the war will continue in the winter, and he builds the request for a winter package precisely under this scenario. At the same time, Kushner, answering a question about the possibility of ending the conflict before winter, neither confirms nor refutes such a deadline, but only says that the process "may end quickly or slowly." Thus, the Ukrainian side is in fact building into the negotiation agenda the scenario of continued hostilities, while the American side keeps its formulations maximally open. In addition, materials from a number of Ukrainian media outlets (in particular, 24tv) mention satisfaction with the results of the negotiations "in Kyiv and Moscow," indicating a parallel track in the Russian capital, however, in the text of Zelensky's briefing and in Kushner's main statements, the emphasis is placed exclusively on the Kyiv format. The difference in emphasis may be related to the fact that the Moscow track is considered a separate, not publicly detailed channel.
The outcome of the day was confirmation that the negotiation process between Kyiv, Washington, and European capitals is moving into a phase of substantive work on specific packages — from winter provisioning to postwar guarantees. The parties agreed that further progress is possible only if the rhythm of personal meetings is maintained, and, according to mutual statements, the Ukrainian and American teams "positively assess the possibilities for further work."
