Zelenskyy May Offer Witkoff and Kushner His Presidential Plane for Their Next Trip to Kyiv

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered US President Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner the use of his presidential aircraft for their next visit to Kyiv after Russian strikes prevented them from flying directly into the Ukrainian capital during their September 6 trip.

During a conversation with journalists on September 8, Zelenskyy said Ukrainian authorities had prepared both Boryspil International Airport and Kyiv’s Zhuliany Airport to receive the US delegation by air according to hromadske.

“Ukraine was ready to receive the American delegation by plane—both Boryspil and Zhuliany were operational. However, Russia struck the runways of both airports, after which Witkoff and Kushner chose to travel by train,” Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy said Witkoff and Kushner had agreed to return to Ukraine and proposed a different arrangement for their next trip. Under the proposal, the US delegation could leave its aircraft in Poland or another neighboring country and transfer to the Ukrainian presidential plane for the flight to Kyiv.

Ukrainian officials had also considered a route involving a flight to Gomel, Belarus, followed by an onward flight to Kyiv. The US side ultimately chose the train option.

Witkoff and Kushner arrived in Kyiv on September 6 for their first visit to Ukraine, one day after meeting Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

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War in Ukraine

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Their talks with Putin on September 5 lasted more than three hours and focused on possible approaches to ending Russia’s war against Ukraine. Trump had said ahead of the Moscow meeting that his envoys were carrying a proposal concerning an end to the war.

In Kyiv, Witkoff and Kushner held three rounds of negotiations with Ukrainian officials. National security advisers from Germany, France, and the United Kingdom also participated in the second round.

The US envoys also indicated that they wanted to return to a trilateral negotiating format involving Ukraine, the United States, and Russia, with a possible meeting expected to be announced in the near future.

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