- September 6, 2026
- 8:26 pm
- Ukraine
Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner completed a series of negotiations in Kyiv after meeting with Putin in Moscow. Zelensky stated that Ukraine is preparing for a possible continuation of the war in winter, while Trump’s team wants to revise the peace proposal and achieve a breakthrough sooner.
Author: Anton Pshedynsky
On September 6, 2026, the main part of the negotiations between Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump’s representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner concluded in Kyiv. This was their first official visit to Ukraine in their current capacity. After two rounds with the Ukrainian side, national security advisors from the UK, France, and Germany joined the conversation. No ready agreement or general ceasefire was announced at the end of the day, but Witkoff called the conversation “substantive and important,” and Axios sources reported that the Americans want to work with the parties to revise the initiative brought into an updated peace proposal.
The most memorable phrase of the day was not about territories. Zelensky thanked the Americans for coming and said they “worked even better than the Patriot systems” protecting the capital’s residents.
“Thank you. Come more often. And our people will have the opportunity to live a little longer,” added the President of Ukraine.
Behind the joke lies a rather grim mechanism of current diplomacy. During the mission, Moscow agreed not to strike Kyiv, and Ukraine not to strike Moscow. However, there is no ceasefire across the country: fighting continues on the front, Russia attacks other Ukrainian regions, and Ukraine continues strikes on targets in Russia.
The Americans were expected by plane, but they arrived in Kyiv by train.
Witkoff and Kushner arrived after more than a three-hour meeting with Putin in the Kremlin on September 5. The Ukrainian side was preparing to receive them through the airport, but after Russian strikes on the “Kyiv” airports in Zhulyany and “Boryspil,” the American delegation flew to Poland and continued their journey to Kyiv by land.
NANews — Israel News separately analyzed this sequence: Washington asked both sides to ensure a safe window for negotiators, Kyiv publicly agreed not to hit Moscow, and Russia again attacked the Ukrainian capital and airport infrastructure before the delegation’s arrival.
Therefore, Zelensky’s remark about the Patriot was not just a joke for the cameras. For a few hours, the presence of Trump’s people indeed became a political shield for Kyiv against strikes on the capital.
The first Ukrainian-American round lasted about three hours and included a working lunch. Then Zelensky met with Witkoff and Kushner again, followed by an extended session with European advisors. Witkoff stated that the American side left the conversation “very encouraged.”
But public compliments do not yet equal results. Neither a general ceasefire line nor an agreement on territories nor a ready mechanism for security guarantees has been announced. Moscow continues to demand the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the part of Donbas still under Kyiv’s control. Ukraine rejects this. After the negotiations, Zelensky again said that territorial issues of this level can only be resolved by leaders.
Zelensky: so far, it looks like the war will go into winter.
The winter theme turned out to be one of the main practical blocks of the meeting. Zelensky formulated it more cautiously than it spread on social networks: if the war continues in winter — “so far it looks like” — Ukraine will need a special winter support package.
Kyiv includes strengthening air defense, energy assistance, and the use of American liquefied natural gas in it. Earlier, Zelensky told partners that Ukraine needs hundreds of interceptor missiles for the Patriot during the cold period. On September 6, this topic was discussed with the Americans and Europeans as part of preparations for a possible winter campaign.
According to the Associated Press, a senior Ukrainian official described one of the central topics of the conversation as the question of “how to get through the winter and what can be done before it.” Axios adds an important second half: Zelensky spoke about preparing for the continuation of the war in winter, while Witkoff and Kushner emphasized that they want to achieve a diplomatic breakthrough sooner.
That is, Zelensky did not declare the winter of war inevitable. Kyiv is preparing for it as the most dangerous scenario, while Washington is trying to use the remaining weeks for a new negotiation push.
“Putin is doing this before his elections.”
Separately, Zelensky linked the sharp increase in Russian air attacks to the upcoming elections in Russia.
“The last few days — it’s just horror, what’s happening primarily in the sky. Putin is doing this before his elections. I am absolutely sure of this, that’s why he is increasing the strikes,” said the President of Ukraine.
He added: “We will respond, we are already responding in kind. Until the terror ends and the war ends.”
This is about the elections of State Duma deputies. The main voting day is scheduled for September 20, 2026, voting will take place on September 18, 19, and 20.
Here it is important not to mix fact and assessment. The dates of the Russian elections are known, the increase in air attacks is also recorded, but the connection between these two events Zelensky presented as his own confidence, not as an independently proven motive of the Kremlin.
Even on the day of negotiations, the war did not stop. On the night of Sunday, Russia launched 108 drones and missiles at Ukraine; the Ukrainian Air Force reported intercepting 82 drones and six missiles. There were dead and injured in the regions. At the same time, Ukraine continued long-range strikes on Russian infrastructure.
What will happen now with Trump’s “peace plan”
On September 4, Trump publicly said he was sending Witkoff and Kushner with a new “idea for peace.” First, they listened to Moscow, then Kyiv and European partners.
In the Kremlin, the negotiations were called constructive and useful, but no breakthrough was announced. Not only Ukraine was discussed: the Russian side also reported potential major Russian-American economic projects.
The White House after Moscow stated that specific next steps would be announced in the coming weeks. After Kyiv, Axios already reported on Witkoff and Kushner’s intention to work on a refreshed peace proposal.
Therefore, the wording “Trump instructed to develop a new peace plan” conveys the general meaning of what is happening, but it is more accurate to say otherwise: Trump’s team is revising the existing initiative after negotiations with both sides.
Kushner also stated that he considers it useful to return to the trilateral format USA — Ukraine — Russia, which the parties used about six months ago. According to him, the Americans discussed with Putin ideas that previously did not work and tried to determine which elements are necessary for a truly long-lasting peace.
He formulated the task even more broadly: stopping deaths is not enough if the agreement does not create conditions for a long peace and subsequent recovery of Ukraine. In Kyiv, security guarantees and an economic “prosperity plan” after the war were discussed.
For the Israeli audience, there is another detail here. Witkoff and Kushner are the same narrow Trump team that the White House also uses in Middle Eastern diplomacy. And the word Patriot in Zelensky’s remark today was not accidentally central: Ukraine has been warning for several months that the shortage of American interceptors directly determines how many Russian ballistic missiles can be stopped in winter.
NANews — Israel News wrote back on September 5 that the main test for Witkoff and Kushner’s mission will begin precisely after Kyiv.
Now it has indeed begun.
The Americans heard Putin, Zelensky, and the Europeans. The next version of the proposal will show which Russian demands Washington considers negotiable and which it is ready to discard.
While there is diplomatic movement, there is neither a deal nor a general ceasefire — and Ukraine is simultaneously preparing for the possibility that winter may come before peace.