US envoys Witkoff and Kushner hold talks in Ukraine after meeting with Putin

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – U.S. Envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held "encouraging" discussions in Kyiv on Sunday in their first official visit to Ukraine, but produced no breakthrough toward ending Russia's full-scale invasion.

What happened

For context, the Trump administration's push to end the fighting has lost momentum, with the focus on the Iran war for the past six months.

As both sides have escalated their aerial attacks in the more than 4½-year all-out war, the trip by the Americans, part of a renewed effort to end the war, followed a session with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Saturday.

Despite the latest diplomatic push, the core demands of Moscow and Kyiv remain mutually exclusive, especially over territorial concessions, underscoring the difficulty of reaching an agreement. Kushner acknowledged the challenge, saying the U.S. Was working "behind the scenes" to create the conditions for a feasible agreement.

The bottom line

Taken together, the developments around US envoys Witkoff and Kushner hold talks in Ukraine after meeting with point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.