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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that he expects U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoys to visit Kyiv in the coming days as efforts resume to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The diplomatic push to end Russia’s four-and-a-half-year invasion has stalled in recent months as the United States shifted its focus toward the war with Iran.
In an evening video address, Zelenskyy said he had held a meeting with Kyiv’s negotiation team and that preparations were underway for upcoming meetings with the American side as part of Russia-Ukraine peace efforts.
Zelenskyy said there were “preliminary dates” for a visit by U.S. envoys to the Ukrainian capital and that Kyiv had received confirmation from them.
“We expect to see the envoys of the President of America here in Kyiv. We have confirmation from them,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly address.
“They will have meetings in Moscow and in Kyiv. We are counting on a meeting in the coming days,” he added.
Zelenskyy said Washington’s active involvement in efforts to end the war remained important.
He gave no further details on the planned visit, while Russian and U.S. authorities have not commented on the matter.
Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner have been involved in shuttle diplomacy between Russia and Ukraine, traveling to Moscow multiple times.
They have not previously visited Kyiv.
Zelenskyy said “tentative dates have been set” for the envoys’ first visit to the Ukrainian capital, which has faced intensified Russian drone and missile attacks over the past week.
In July, Zelenskyy said he had spoken with Witkoff and Kushner “to reinvigorate diplomacy and bring peace closer.”
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has turned into Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II, killing thousands of civilians and hundreds of thousands of troops.
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Moscow and Kyiv last held peace negotiations under U.S. mediation earlier this year, with three rounds of talks held on Jan. 23-24, Feb. 4-5 and Feb. 17-18.
The first two rounds were held in Abu Dhabi, while the third took place in Geneva.
Negotiations have since been paused, with Moscow and Kyiv attributing the halt to the U.S. focus on Iran, which began in late February.
Witkoff and Kushner have made several visits to Moscow since U.S.-mediated talks began.
Their last visit took place on Jan. 22, when they met Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin.
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