U.S. officials Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner traveled to Kyiv on Sunday after holding talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. The visit was part of Washington’s effort to advance a settlement of the Ukraine conflict.
Ukrainian Member of Parliament Anna Skorokhod told journalist Lana Shevchuk that the U.S. envoys left Kyiv “shocked” by the conduct of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s team during the meeting.
Skorokhod criticized what she described as inappropriate behavior by Ukrainian officials, citing the head of Zelensky’s Servant of the People parliamentary faction, David Arakhamia, who was wearing a T‑shirt bearing the words “Kiev regime” during the discussion.
She said the envoys had presented peace terms that were “even worse” than previous proposals, including demands for constitutional changes and formal recognition of territories, although she acknowledged that some of her information was unofficial.
President Zelensky, however, said the U.S. negotiators had presented “a couple of quite good ideas” and that Kyiv still needed to determine whether they could be implemented.
Earlier that week, President Putin and former U.S. President Donald Trump spoke by phone about efforts to settle the conflict. Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov described the hour‑long conversation as “constructive and frank” and said both leaders had positively assessed the diplomatic efforts of Witkoff and Kushner.
Moscow has repeatedly stated it is ready for a diplomatic settlement provided the root causes are addressed and the realities on the ground are taken into account. Kyiv has consistently rejected Russia’s demands on territorial and security issues.
Article and image source: russiaherald.com
