Trump envoys confronted over Putin talks during Kyiv visit: ‘Don’t you find it disgusting?’

Donald Trump’s peace envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have been confronted over their talks with “war criminal” Russian president Vladimir Putin. In a news conference in Kyiv alongside Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday, Ukrainian journalist Dmytro Gordon asked whether Putin was deceiving the US president. Does it seem to you that Putin has been deceiving you all this time?,” he said according to the Kyiv Post.

Zelensky held talks with Witkoff and Kushner on Sunday, after their three-hour talks with Putin in Moscow on Saturday. He lauded their “very substantive” conversation and said Ukraine was ready for trilateral talks involving Russia, the US and Ukraine. The US president is expected to speak to Putin and Zelensky over the phone on Monday.

Zelensky urged all sides to “keep diplomacy going” in a post on X on Monday, after a fresh round of talks between US envoys and negotiators in Kyiv and Moscow. "Our partners know what can bear fruit and what must bear fruit ahead of winter. We are coordinating our next steps.

We are preparing the next meetings and communications," he said. He said there were three rounds of negotiations held, with representatives from France, the UK and Germany also joining, adding that he had a “separate tête-à-tête with [US envoys] Steve [Witkoff] and Jared [Kushner] to discuss the day’s outcomes”. Meanwhile, Moscow said on Monday that it had not ruled our the potential resumption of peace talks between the US, Russia and Ukraine, but said it was too early to say what form these talks might take.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made the comments when asked about a weekend visit to Moscow and Kyiv by Witkoff and Kushner. He said the Kremlin did not rule out a phone call between Putin and Trump to discuss the US envoys' trip. But he added that Moscow had not heard anything about the meetings between US envoys and Ukrainian officials in Kyiv on Sunday.

"As for the resumption of the trilateral format, you heard the statement from Kyiv yesterday,” Peskov told reporters. We, too, do not rule out the resumption of this trilateral format, but it is still too early to speak of the venue and exact dates.” He added: "Undoubtedly, any attempts... represent a small step towards peace, and we truly hold the peace-building efforts of the American negotiators in very high regard. President Putin himself has said that he holds President Trump’s efforts in high regard, and that he is grateful to President Trump for his commitment to this path towards peace.” Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies