US President Donald Trump’s representatives, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, could visit Ukraine in the coming days. Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that preliminary dates for the meetings have already been agreed, although the exact timing of their arrival and the final itinerary of the US negotiators remain unclear.
For now, it is therefore more accurate to speak of preparations for the visit. There has been no public confirmation that Witkoff and Kushner have already departed for Ukraine or that the trip has been finalized. They are also expected to hold talks in Moscow.
If the trip goes ahead, it will be the first confirmed visit to Ukraine by Witkoff and Kushner. They have previously engaged with Ukrainian officials and participated in talks involving Kyiv’s delegation, including at neutral venues. However, neither US negotiator has yet visited the Ukrainian capital.
The visit has already been planned several times. It was initially expected in spring 2026, before possible dates were moved to May, June and later to around Ukraine’s Independence Day. The deteriorating security situation and intensified Russian attacks on Kyiv were cited as reasons for the postponements.
The latest escalation in strikes once again poses a risk to the planned meetings. If the visit is cancelled or postponed, Witkoff and Kushner will continue to receive much of their information about the war outside Ukraine without having the opportunity to assess the situation in the country firsthand.
A potential visit to Kyiv is particularly important because of the clear imbalance in previous diplomatic contacts. Witkoff has travelled to Moscow repeatedly and held hours-long talks with Vladimir Putin. Kushner joined him for meetings in the Russian capital in December 2025.
Both Trump representatives are therefore already closely familiar with the Kremlin’s position, its demands and its vision for how the war could end. Yet neither of them has visited Ukraine, the country against which Russia is waging its war.
This has raised concerns in Kyiv about whether the US negotiators have a complete and balanced understanding of the situation. If diplomatic proposals are shaped primarily after meetings with the Russian leadership, Moscow’s position could become the starting point for further negotiations.
Witkoff and Kushner’s presence in Ukraine would have more than symbolic significance. They would be able to see the consequences of Russian strikes firsthand, assess the actual security situation and hold talks not only with Zelenskyy but also with the country’s military and diplomatic leadership.
For Kyiv, the visit would provide an opportunity to present its vision for ending the war without intermediaries, identify possible compromises and define its fundamental limits. Ukrainian officials would also be able to explain the actual situation on the battlefield and demonstrate why certain Russian demands do not reflect realities on the ground or could create the conditions for another war.
The visit could provide a broader perspective than the one formed during negotiations in Moscow. After seeing the consequences of Russian attacks and hearing Ukraine’s position directly in Kyiv, Trump’s representatives might reassess the Kremlin’s proposals and adjust their approach to subsequent meetings.
Zelenskyy has announced planned meetings in both Kyiv and Moscow but has not publicly specified the order of the visits. Their sequence could influence which side’s proposals shape the next stage of negotiations.
If Witkoff and Kushner travel to Moscow first, they could arrive in Ukraine carrying Putin’s updated demands and a preliminary framework for a settlement. Under this scenario, Kyiv would have to respond to an agenda largely shaped by the Russian side.
If Kyiv is their first destination, the US negotiators will be able to identify Ukraine’s priorities and red lines in advance. They could then raise those positions with the Kremlin. This order would be more favourable for Ukraine because it would reduce the risk of a negotiating framework being built exclusively around Moscow’s demands.
The importance of the travel sequence should not be overstated, however. It will create a particular political and psychological context, but it will not guarantee that Washington automatically supports the position of whichever capital the envoys visit first. The substance of the proposals and the tools Washington is prepared to use to implement them will matter far more.
The intensification of Russian attacks on Kyiv as diplomatic meetings are being prepared has prompted speculation that Moscow may not want Trump’s representatives to visit Ukraine. Without direct evidence, however, this remains only one possible explanation for Russia’s tactics.
The latest attacks have objectively increased the security risks and could provide grounds for postponing the trip. If that happens, Moscow will retain its advantage in face-to-face contacts with the US mediators, while Ukraine will once again be forced to hold talks abroad or remotely.
This would create more favourable conditions for Russia to promote its own view of the war. The US representatives could hear the Kremlin’s arguments in Moscow without witnessing the direct consequences of Russian aggression in Ukraine.
A potential visit by Witkoff and Kushner would send an important political signal and partially correct the imbalance in previous diplomatic contacts. It could also indicate that Washington is preparing a new phase of diplomatic activity.
The trip itself, however, would not guarantee a change in US policy or rapid progress towards ending the war. What matters will be the proposals Trump’s representatives bring to Kyiv, whether they take Ukraine’s arguments into account and what steps they take after the meetings.
If their role is limited to relaying the Kremlin’s demands to the Ukrainian leadership, the visit will remain largely symbolic. If the talks in Kyiv lead to changes in US proposals, concrete security guarantees for Ukraine or a willingness to increase pressure on Russia, the trip could become a significant moment in the wider diplomatic process.
For now, the key questions remain unanswered: whether the visit will take place, when exactly the US representatives will arrive in Kyiv and which capital they will travel to first. The answers will show whether Ukraine becomes a full participant in shaping the next negotiating agenda or is once again forced to respond to proposals discussed without its involvement.
