US special envoy Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, said Saturday he hoped the “next steps” in talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine could be announced within the next two weeks.
Kushner visited Moscow and Kyiv last week alongside businessman and US envoy Steve Witkoff in an effort to revive Washington-led negotiations to end the war, which has continued for more than four years.
The two US envoys met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, marking their first visit to Ukraine.
Speaking by video at the Yalta European Strategy Forum in Kyiv, Kushner said, “I really hope that in the next two weeks we can announce what the next steps will be,” adding that this could “help pave the way to move forward.”
He pointed to a “commitment” by Putin to “find a way forward,” drawing laughter from those attending the forum.
Kushner described communication with both sides as “very constructive and very positive,” while acknowledging that “these are extremely complicated problems” and saying work was continuing to make progress.
Witkoff and Kushner had previously spoken of progress in the negotiations without announcing a breakthrough, while raising the possibility of trilateral talks involving Russia, Ukraine and the United States.
Asked about returning to Kyiv with Witkoff, Kushner said: “We’ll come back when there is something to talk about and when there is a need to do so.”
He described his visit to Ukraine as “very special,” praising the country’s resilience and noting that its achievements had “come at a very high cost.”
Kushner also welcomed the three-day ceasefire announced in connection with the talks, saying Washington hoped to turn it into a ceasefire that would be “much longer-lasting and more durable.”
Putin had announced a three-day halt to strikes on Kyiv, while Zelenskyy announced a suspension of attacks targeting Moscow. Fighting, however, continued in other parts of Ukraine and Russia.
Several rounds of negotiations were held over the past year, but they resulted only in prisoner exchanges, with neither Moscow nor Kyiv changing its position. The Kremlin has continued to affirm its determination to seize the remaining Ukrainian territories.
Source: (AFP)
