United States envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have been seen as embarrassing and amateurish after their latest attempt to secure a ceasefire in Russia’s war in Ukraine, suggesting that European patience with the US administration of Donald Trump is running out. Witkoff caused outrage after he openly flattered Russian President Vladimir Putin. Ukraine stopped firing missiles and drones at Moscow between September 5 and 7 to enable the US envoys aircraft to fly safely between the capitals.
Russia also paused attacks as they visited Kyiv. But as soon as Witkoff and Kushner left, Russia showered drones and missiles on Kyiv killing at least four civilians on September 8 and 9. Russia has shown little sign that it is ready for a deal.
Putin’s diplomatic aide, Valery Ushakov, told the US envoys that Moscow was committed to achieving all its goals in Ukraine. Moreover, it must end on our terms, in order to prevent the possibility of it recurring in the future or spreading into a global conflict,” former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told Vedomosti newspaper two days later. This isn’t a scare tactic,” he warned.
Zelenskyy has insisted that only leverage on the battlefield will force Moscow to negotiate. Witkoff and Kushner arrived in Kyiv on the fourth anniversary of Ukraine’s Kharkiv offensive, which reclaimed 11,500sq km (4,440 square miles) of northern Ukrainian territory from Russian occupation, including more than 500 settlements. Shortly after that, Russian forces withdrew from roughly 8,000sq km (3,100 square miles) of territory it had occupied on the right bank of the Dnipro River in the southern region of Kherson, deeming it to be indefensible.
Both actions, along with Russia previously lifting sieges on Kyiv, Sumy and Chernihiv, reduced the Russian occupation from more than a quarter of Ukrainian territory to less than a fifth. Since then, Russia has made only marginal gains for mounting losses. Ukraine’s military leadership said that since the beginning of the war, Russia has suffered 1.5m losses of personnel – both soldiers killed or incapacitated.
This year, Russia has again suffered setbacks, notably during the Oleksandrivka counteroffensive, which reclaimed 745sq km (290 square miles) in the eastern and southern Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Russia has appeared to have escalated its targeting of Ukrainian officials in recent days. On September 4, a drone struck the headquarters of Ukraine’s internal security service, the SBU.
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