Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky with Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff (L) and Jared Kushner (R), Kyiv, September 6, 2026

The Week in TrumpLand — “Grandpa Has Left The Building” From Ukraine to Iran to Canada

Sunday’s Coverage: Putin Tries to Manipulate Trump Envoys Witkoff and Kushner

Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner finally visited Kyiv on Sunday, their first trip during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The pair met Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, a day after they were courted by Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin. The talks yielded no advance towards an end of the invasion, as Russia maintains its demands for Ukraine’s surrender of territory and a permanently weakened state with no effective security guarantees.

Awaiting the arrival of the envoys, Zelensky had stressed the need for security guarantees and a “dignified character of the postwar peace”, saying, “Our proposals are ready.”

After three hours of talks, real estate Witkoff and Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, made brief, general statements to journalists. Witkoff said the talks had been “substantive” and “meaningful,” declaring that he and Kushner were “encouraged” with progress.

Kushner relayed “personal regards” from Trump and underscored the importance of building “long-term, durable peace” that will allow Ukraine “to build themselves into the great nation that they have the fullest potential to achieve”.

But he emphasized the need for a settlement that enabled the Russian invaders to fulfil their goals.

Zelensky: “We Are All on the Same Side”

Zelensky diplomatically thanked both the envoys and the European officials for their visits, emphasizing that the invasion should be resolved in a manner prevents Russia from launching another aggression.

“We are all on the same side,” the President commented. “We all want the war to end.”

However, with no prospect of that occurring, Zelensky focused on assistance against Russia’s anticipated assault this winter to break civilian resistance and Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

“If the war continues — and we expect the war will continue — we are counting heavily on the winter aid package…on support for both air defense and the energy sector,” he told reporters.

He played down the lack of advance towards a lasting ceasefire, “I’m grateful that, despite the long hiatus in any format of negotiations, we may find some form of negotiations acceptable, but it’s still worse when there are none at all.”

The President joked that the presence of Trump’s representatives in Kyiv, which had suffered nine consecutive days of Russian missile and drone strikes, shielded residents with “even better protection than the Patriot systems”. Then he expressed his hope:

“(The American side will increase the production volumes of anti-ballistic missiles [and] Patriot systems next year….We are counting on such systems to protect our state, so we will increase the volume next year.

The Ukrainian team also emphasized the need for security guarantees and economic support for post-war recovery. Zelensky also spoke of the US legislation for toughened sanctions on Russia, which is now in the House after its passage by the Senate this summer:

Referring to the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham, the leading proponent of the measures, he said, “The Ukrainian side is counting on the efforts of Lindsey Graham, a great friend of Ukraine, to be positively recognized by the United States.”

The President noted, “We’ve agreed that Ukraine, Europe, and the US will meet in the near future.”

Kushner: “Everyone Was Speaking in Russian to Each Other”

Kushner expressed his hope for the resumption of Ukraine-Russia-US talks from early this year.

“Everyone was speaking in Russian to each other. We were discussing these issues in a very extra-friendly manner, all in Russian,” he told journalists. He praised the talks with Putin as “a very good dialogue.”

Asked by a Ukrainian journalist if he was “ashamed to sit at the same table with an international war criminal” — Putin is wanted by the International Criminal Court over Russia’s mass abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children — Witkoff declared, “We’ve always been treated respectfully by President Putin and his team.”

He added, “Relationships are critical in terms of solving conflicts like this….My job and Jared’s job, together, is to bring the parties together.”