The US expects to draw up a roadmap for the resumption of talks between Ukraine and Russia within the next few weeks, said Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He linked this work to the recent mission by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Moscow and Kyiv, where they discussed new proposals but failed to narrow the gap between the two sides’ positions on the terms for ending the war.
Briefly about the main points
- Washington is preparing a process to bring the parties back to the negotiating table.
- Rubio observed limited openness to new proposals.
- American envoys held separate meetings with Putin and Zelensky.
- Kyiv is giving further consideration to some of the ideas put forward by the US.
- Russia’s territorial claims remain a key obstacle.
US mediation does not mean a deal has been finalised
Rubio. He described last weekend’s talks as substantive and said that, on certain issues, a degree of mutual openness had emerged for the first time. At the same time, he cautioned against excessive optimism and stressed that there was still a great deal of work to be done.
According to the Secretary of State, Kyiv and Moscow have firm «red lines» and are not yet prepared to make significant concessions. The US is prepared to continue acting as a mediator, and the forthcoming roadmap should, first and foremost, facilitate a return to the process, rather than serve as the text of an already agreed peace deal.
Witkoff and Kushner’s mission covered Moscow and Kyiv
On 5 September, US representatives spoke for over three hours with Vladimir Putin in Moscow. The following day, they arrived in Kyiv, where they met with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian negotiating team.
Contacts in Kyiv consisted of three rounds, and national security advisers from the UK, France and Germany joined the final round. Following the meeting in Moscow, Putin’s adviser Yuri Ushakov also reported that the parties had discussed economic issues and potential mutually beneficial projects between the US and Russia separately.
Despite the positive assessments of the talks, they did not lead to an immediate diplomatic breakthrough.
Kyiv is examining the US proposals and preparing consultations with its partners
On 8 September, Zelenskyy confirmed that the US delegation had put forward several new proposals. The President described some of them as «worthy of consideration», but did not disclose their content, explaining that Kyiv and Washington had agreed to examine the ideas further first.
Among the possible topics for the next phase, he mentioned energy infrastructure, grain exports, the expansion of prisoner-of-war exchanges and steps towards de-escalation. In an interview with Axios, Zelenskyy also linked the discussions to preparing for winter.
Ukraine, the US and European partners are planning a separate meeting to prepare for the next trilateral round. Turkey, the UAE, Switzerland and other countries have been mentioned as possible venues.
Moscow’s territorial demands remain the main obstacle
After the trip Witkoff and Kushner Donald Trump spoke to Putin on the phone end of war. According to the Kremlin, the US President spoke of his desire to end the war as soon as possible, after which relations between Washington and Moscow could be fully restored; the issue of a possible trilateral format was also raised.
Russia has not announced any significant change to its key demands. According to Reuters, Moscow continues to lay claim to the entire Donetsk region, including areas it does not control, whilst Ukraine rejects the demand to cede these territories.
The next practical step should be consultations between Ukraine, the US and European partners on the format of the new round.
