Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke Wednesday with President Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner about how to resume diplomatic efforts to end Russia’s war against Ukraine, according to a report Wednesday.
Axios correspondent Barak Ravid said the two sides talked through ways to get negotiations moving again. He cited a source who knew about the call. Zelensky himself confirmed it hours later on X and made a point of saying Ukraine wants peace.
Zelensky framed the call as an effort to breathe life back into the peace process. “It was a good, important conversation on how to reinvigorate diplomacy and bring peace closer,” he wrote.
The wartime president said Ukraine has long been ready for a peace that preserves its dignity. He thanked Witkoff and Kushner for their personal role in the effort and credited Trump and the American people for their support, adding that negotiating teams remain in close contact to follow up on what was discussed.
The call followed the July 8 NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, where Trump met Zelensky face-to-face and said the United States would license Ukraine to manufacture its own Patriot air defense missiles. At the summit, Zelensky had asked for more air defenses and pushed again for NATO membership. European allies and Canada put up about $80 billion in defense aid for Ukraine this year.
Days before Ankara, Trump held separate calls with Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, with Witkoff and Kushner signaling they stood ready to travel to Moscow to continue mediation.
Russia’s advance on the ground has stalled, and Ukrainian strikes deep inside the country have set off gasoline shortages that are biting into Putin’s war economy. Russia has hit back, throwing missiles and drones at Kyiv and other cities. The attacks swamp Ukraine’s defenses and kill civilians nearly every day.
Putin has so far refused to meet Zelensky except to finalize a completed agreement, whether in Moscow or a third country. Moscow continues to demand that Ukraine withdraw from the parts of the Donbas its forces still hold as a precondition for any deal.
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