Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has criticized the absence of visits by US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Kyiv, calling it ‘disrespectful’ in an interview with a Ukrainian outlet. The pair traveled to Moscow late last year and again in January as ceasefire talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine gained momentum.

US Envoys and Their Moscow Visits

Steve Witkoff. Who has visited Moscow eight times. Has met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on multiple occasions, and Neither he nor Kushner has ever visited Kyiv in an official capacity — Zelensky said it was ‘disrespectful’ for them to visit Moscow but not Kyiv.

“I understand we have complex logistics… If they don’t want to. We can meet in other countries. ” Zelensky added, as Witkoff, a former real estate magnate, is Donald Trump’s special envoy, and Kushner is the US president’s son-in-law.

Missed Visit Amid US-Israel War

Earlier in April, Zelensky said the two envoys were planning to visit Ukraine, but that trip never materialized amid the US-Israel war with Iran. The last trilateral summit between Russia, the US, and Ukraine was in mid-February, less than two weeks before the US and Israel began striking Iran.

Attention shifted away from ending the Ukraine war, which has been ongoing for more than four years. Witkoff and Kushner are part of the US negotiating team traveling to Pakistan for ceasefire talks with Iran, and Zelensky acknowledged that the US’s focus was on the Middle East.

“But… in any case, for us it is important to continue cooperating with the Americans,” he added.

Ceasefire Talks and Unresolved Issues

Ceasefire talks gained pace in autumn 2025 when it was revealed that Russian and US officials had been working on a plan to end the war in Ukraine that included several terms unfavorable to Kyiv. Ukraine pushed to be involved in the talks, leading to several meetings and summits.

By February, both Moscow and Kyiv said they had reached an agreement on some ‘military issues,’ including the location of the front line and ceasefire monitoring. Other issues remain unresolved, including Ukraine’s demand that Russia return the Ukrainian children it forcibly deported since the start of the war and Moscow’s insistence on a ‘regime change’ in Kyiv.

The key matter is the status of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. Moscow’s demand for sovereign Ukrainian territory in exchange for an end to the war is unacceptable to Kyiv, and neither side is willing to budge, leaving the talks at a dead-end.

“We are looking for a compromise between two completely polar positions,” said Kyrylo Budanov, Zelensky’s chief of staff, in February. “We have not yet found it.”

In the end, he added, both Kyiv and Moscow will ‘have to acknowledge one of two things: either we find a solution and end this war, or we all equally take responsibility for admitting that we didn’t find a solution and continue to kill one another – something we do quite efficiently and professionally.”

The war, which started when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, has been an everyday reality for Ukrainians for over four years. Large swathes of eastern Ukraine are under Russian control, and Kyiv and Moscow’s troops continue to engage in direct battle on a long front line stretching from Luhansk in the north-east to Kherson in the south.

Cities across Ukraine come under regular aerial attacks, with Russia employing hundreds of drones and missiles that kill civilians and damage infrastructure. Meanwhile, Ukraine has ramped up its attacks on Russian energy infrastructure with long-range drones, hitting ports, factories, depots, and oil terminals far into Russian territory.

According to Reuters calculations, at least 20% of Russia’s total export capacity was out of order in early April following the attacks. However, the energy crisis caused by the war with Iran has so far resulted in financial gains for Russia as it boosted its oil revenue, although the country’s GDP continues to fall.

Although much of the EU has weaned itself off Russian oil, Hungary and Slovakia are still buying it, pumped via Ukrainian territory through the Soviet-era Druzhba pipeline. Druzhba was shut earlier this year after Ukraine said the infrastructure was damaged following a Russian strike in January.

The interruption led Hungary’s outgoing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to hold up a €90bn (£78bn) European Union loan for Ukraine, but on Tuesday Zelensky said the pipeline had been repaired. EU countries could greenlight the much-needed loan for Ukraine on Wednesday if Hungary lifts its veto.