Vitkoff and Kushner cancel meeting with Zelensky in Brussels

Euronews journalist: Vitkoff and Kushner cancelled meeting with Zelensky in Brussels

Euronews journalist Alex Rafoglu said that the special envoy of the US President Steve Witkoff and advisor Jared Kushner cancelled a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Brussels scheduled for today. He wrote about this in his account on X, citing his own sources.

Earlier, Rafoglu said that the meeting was to be a continuation of the US mission's negotiations on a peace plan after their visit to Moscow.

What the Kremlin says

Against this background, the Russian side is trying to present the events in a favourable light. The Kremlin claims that Vitkoff and Kushner allegedly «promised» to go straight to Washington after talks with Putin, to report on the results of the meeting.

Russian media actively promote the narrative that key decisions about the war are made «directly» between Moscow and Washington, in an attempt to reduce Ukraine's subjectivity.

The context of the peace talks

The mission of Witkoff and Kushner was part of the US administration's attempts to promote An updated peace plan for Ukraine. According to media reports, the original document consisted of 28 points, but in consultations with Kyiv and its allies, it was shortened and finalised.

At the previous stages:

• Moscow said that some of the US proposals were «unacceptable»;

• The Ukrainian side stressed that any agreements could not take place without Kyiv's participation;

• European capitals are concerned about the possibility of agreements «over Ukraine's head».

Cancellation of the meeting in Brussels is in fact delays the stage of direct communication between the American delegation and the Ukrainian leadership after the talks with Putin.

What this means for Ukraine

Formally, the reasons for the cancellation of the meeting were not publicly announced. However, given the

• difficult negotiations on the terms of a potential truce,

• disagreements between the US, the EU and Russia,

• sensitivity of territorial and security points,

Any shift in the schedule of contacts with Ukraine raises political questions both in Kyiv and in European capitals.

The Ukrainian side insists that No decisions about Ukraine's future can be made without its participation, and any plan must comply with the principle of restoring territorial integrity.