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Yermak Meets Witkoff in New York: Ukraine Pushes US Diplomacy as Russia Stalls Peace Efforts
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![Photo of Cyril Barabaltchouk]( "Photo of Cyril Barabaltchouk")
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Andriy Yermak, Head of the Ukrainian President’s Office, alongside First Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Sergiy Kyslytsya, met in New York with US Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff, Yermak wrote in a post on X on August 29.
The meeting focused on advancing real diplomacy and ensuring the implementation of agreements made at the Washington summit. Yermak emphasized the importance of coordinating efforts between Ukraine and the US to push these agreements forward.
During the meeting, Yermak briefed Witkoff on Russia’s ongoing war crimes, particularly highlighting the massive missile and drone attack on Kyiv, which claimed 23 lives, including four children.
“Unfortunately, Russia is failing to fulfill anything necessary to end the war and is clearly dragging out the hostilities. Ukraine supports President Trump’s firm resolve, as well as that of all partners, to achieve a lasting peace as soon as possible. Ukraine welcomes all peace initiatives put forward by the United States. But unfortunately, each of them is being stalled by Russia,” Yermak stated.
Witkoff had previously confirmed that Russia has floated a peace proposal related to the Donetsk region during ongoing negotiations.
Head of the Ukrainian President’s Office reiterated Ukraine’s openness to direct negotiations at the leaders’ level and its readiness to discuss a broad range of issues. He also stressed the need for global pressure to ensure Russia’s genuine willingness to pursue peace and hold critical leaders' meetings to facilitate this.
“We believe that global pressure is needed to ensure Russia is genuinely ready to move toward peace and, in particular, to hold critically important leaders’ meetings for that purpose,” he said.
Yermak invited Witkoff to visit Ukraine in the near future.
Previously, Steve Witkoff said the White House secured critical gains from the August 15 summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Alaska, with the central achievement being a framework of security guarantees for Ukraine modeled on NATO’s Article 5 collective defense pledge.
