Ukraine and U.S. negotiators discussed how to bring peace closer, Zelenskyy says

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday that he spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner for about an hour on how to end the war with Russia.

KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday that he spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner for about an hour on how to end the war with Russia.

“It was a really good conversation: many details, good ideas, that we discussed. There are some new ideas on how to bring the real peace closer, and it concerns formats, meetings, and, certainly, the timeline,” Zelenskyysaid on the Telegram app.

Trump has been pushing for a deal to end the almost four-year-long war, and in recent weeks peace efforts led by Witkoff and Kushner have been slowly inching forward.

Earlier this week, Zelenskyy presented a 20-point draft peace plan that he described as the main framework for ending the war.

Front left to right, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, on Dec. 15.Clemens Bilan / Getty ImagesThe draft represented a slimmed-down version of an original 28-point plan the U.S. previously discussed with the Russian side that was widely seen as mainly benefiting Moscow as it demanded Kyiv cede territory and put curbs on its army.