Last week, the U.S. sent special envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Whitkoff to Moscow and Kyiv to try to restart diplomatic talks between Russia and Ukraine.
According to both sides, the meeting with the U.S. representatives went well, with both Zelenskyy and Putin asserting their willingness to bring the war to a diplomatic end.
Russian President Putin. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Putin in 2021. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Despite the positive feelings, however, neither Russia nor Ukraine shows meaningful signs that they are willing to end the war.
Kyiv, meanwhile, is bracing for another harsh winter as shortages of PAC-3 interceptors persist and is trying to de-escalate the conflict before winter.
In the Aftermath of the Kushner-Whitkoff Meetings
The Kushner-Whitkoff meetings have provided a much-needed breath of fresh air on the diplomatic front, which has been stalled arguably since 2022.
According to Russian officials, the meeting in Moscow was well received by the Kremlin. Yuri Usakov, a presidential aide to Vladimir Putin, stated that the meeting “outlined a number of ideas regarding possible avenues for a settlement” in more than three hours of “highly useful” talks. President Trump has been pushing for a diplomatic breakthrough in the war in Ukraine since he reassumed office in 2025.
“We have an idea for peace. I sent Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, two great negotiators,” he said. “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.”
Likewise, the two U.S. negotiators were well received in Kyiv by Volodimir Zelenskyy.
During the meeting, Zelenskyy stressed the need for more air defenses from the U.S., especially ahead of the upcoming winter.
“If the war drags on until winter—and that is how things currently look—we will need a ‘winter package’,” he said. Zelenskyy also said the U.S. could put more pressure on Russia, noting the good relationship between the two leaders. “My feeling [is] that Putin needs Trump,” Zelensky said. “He doesn’t want… to upset him.” The Ukrainian president went on to say that Putin likely wants to give Trump a diplomatic win, especially before midterm elections in November.
The U.S. diplomats also discussed further steps to end the war through diplomatic channels.
Trying to Get Both Sides to Talk to Each Other
Earlier today, the Kremlin said President Trump had an hour-long phone call with Putin about the talks with Khitkoff and Kushner.
According to Ushakov, the conversation was “constructive and very frank,” and Putin felt positively toward his meeting with the two negotiators.
During the conversation, Trump stressed the need to end the war as quickly as possible, noting that its end would have “impressive and far-reaching prospects” for restoring U.S.-Russia relations.
Putin reportedly agreed that the war should end, commending Trump’s efforts to restore diplomacy. According to Ushkov, Putin gave an “objective and detailed analysis” of the current battlefield and outlined some steps that the U.S. could realistically take to stop the fighting.
Overall, the Kremlin aide noted that the talk between the two world leaders ended on a positive note.
Meanwhile, Ukraine is also looking for a way to end, or at least de-escalate, the conflict before winter. “We have this September, October to find any way to speak,” Zelensky told Axios. “Without dialogue … we will not have [a] result.” He continued, “I think that President Trump can find a way to [a] real beginning of the process of negotiating before [the] cold winter.”
At the same time, however, Ukraine would also like to end the war from a position of strength and further stressed the need for more money and weapons.
Zelenskyy reportedly told Kushner and Whitkoff that Ukraine is currently in a better position on the battlefield.
Diplomatic Standstill
The current problem with diplomacy is that neither side is willing to compromise on their battlefield goals.
Russia remains determined to seize the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporozhzhia, along with the entirety of Novorossiya, which includes Kharkiv and Odesa.
While the Kremlin has claimed that it is ready to negotiate a peaceful end to the war, it does so on the condition that Russia will not do so at the cost of these objectives.
To Kyiv, however, giving up any territory is completely unacceptable.
In fact, Ukraine’s ultimate goal is returning to its pre-2014 borders, with Crimea returned to Ukrainian control.
Nobody—and I Mean Nobody—Saw It Coming: A War No One Thought Would Last This Long
The main challenge for the U.S. is finding a compromise acceptable to both sides that doesn’t kick the can down the road, as the Minsk II agreements did.
However, both Moscow and Kyiv are being stubborn about their goals, thus making compromise virtually impossible.
Consequently, the only other option is to continue fighting and let the battlefield decide the outcome.
At the current rate of fighting, however, the war is likely to continue for several more years until the front line completely collapses. And to be frank, nobody — and we mean no expert — saw the war ever lasting this long. That can only mean more suffering on both sides.
About the Author: Isaac Seitz
Isaac Seitz, a Defense Columnist, graduated from Patrick Henry College’s Strategic Intelligence and National Security program. He has also studied Russian at Middlebury Language Schools and has worked as an intelligence Analyst in the private sector.
