The Ukrainian leader earlier said he expected “signals” from the US after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin
US special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, canceled a planned meeting with Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky in Europe and have flown back home, according to media reports. Zelensky earlier said he expected to hear back from the US delegation after its high-stakes Kremlin talks on a peace plan for Ukraine.
On Tuesday, journalist Alex Raufoglu, who writes for the Kyiv Post, initially reported, citing sources, that “Zelensky is slated to meet in Brussels tonight” with the US officials. Hours later, however, he said there had been a change of plans, and “the Brussels meeting is called off” and “Zelensky is returning home,” without elaborating on the reason.
A plane apparently carrying Witkoff made no stopovers in the EU after leaving Russia, flying directly back to the US, TASS reported, citing a European air-traffic source.
Earlier, Axios also reported that Witkoff was expected to meet with Zelensky and brief him on the talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Ukrainian leader said he had expected signals from Witkoff and Kushner, suggesting that if the Kremlin talks went well, he could meet with Trump very soon. The US president previously refused to meet with both Zelensky and Putin until a peace deal is in the final stages.
The apparent cancelation of the meeting came as Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said the American delegation had promised Moscow to return to Washington after the Kremlin talks and not travel on to Kiev.
His comments came following five-hour Russia-US talks at the Kremlin. Ushakov described the negotiations as “useful, constructive and meaningful,” while adding that “a compromise hasn’t been found” and “there’s still a lot of work to be done.”
The negotiations focused on a US-backed peace framework, initially tied to a 28-point draft leaked last month. The plan reportedly asked Kiev to relinquish territory in Russia’s Donbass regions still under its control, abandon its NATO ambitions, and limit the size of its military, which Kiev considers a dealbreaker.
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