KYIV — President Trump and President Putin spoke on the phone for an hour Tuesday. The Kremlin says Putin assured Trump that Russia has no hostile intentions toward Europe. The conversation comes as the U.S. is seeking to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine. Two U.S. envoys visited both nations in recent days.
The American envoys arrived by train Sunday morning — a first for Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who have traveled to Russia roughly eight times since peace efforts began, but never once to Ukraine. After three rounds of talks with President Zelenskyy, the pair took questions, including a pointed one from Newsmax’s Shelby Wilder.
“During your time as President Trump’s envoys, Russia has escalated its war against Ukraine. It has intensified its hybrid attacks against NATO, and it’s deepened its ties with the likes of Iran and North Korea. So far, diplomacy has not changed Vladimir Putin’s position,” Wilder began. “But if there is no breakthrough after these peace talks, is the U.S. prepared to increase pressure on Russia?”
Kushner replied, “You know, President Trump comes from the business world, which in the business world you think about things in the context of win-win, you know, how do you create opportunities for both sides to do what’s in their interest? War is negative-sum, you know, everyone loses from war, whereas, you know, business and peace is positive-sum.”
Yuriy Boyechko, founder and CEO of Hope for Ukraine, said, “The whole positioning of having this as a win-win solution, kind of equalizing the Russia with Ukraine, where Russia is as an aggressor and Ukraine as a victim… that’s, I think, a wrong approach. And it sends the wrong message to the aggressor, which is Russia.”
There’s a reason Ukraine chose St. Sophia’s Cathedral to receive the American delegation. The Cathedral was founded in 1037 — that’s about a hundred years before Moscow was first mentioned in the history books. So it’s a subtle flex on the part of the Ukrainians, just to point out to the delegation that Ukraine didn’t begin with Russia — and if the Ukrainians have anything to say about it, they won’t end with Russia either.
Boyechko said, “We spoke about the place where they met in a monastery that was built way before Russia ever existed. I think for them, it doesn’t matter… These are transactional guys, right? They look at everything through real estate plans.”
As the leader of Hope for Ukraine, Boyechko speaks for many Ukrainians who put little faith in this latest round of shuttle diplomacy. The envoys, for their part, insist the effort is working.
Witkoff said, “I think we made a lot of progress in Moscow. We heard new ideas. It’s going to take both sides to make some compromises and narrow the issues between them. And we think we have the ingredients to get to that place.”
Moscow pledged to hold its fire on Kyiv while diplomacy played out, but shortly after the envoys departed, Russia broke that ceasefire, intensifying drone attacks and continuing its campaign of terror on the four million people who call Kyiv home. After nearly five years of war, Ukrainians say they’ll believe in peace when they see it.
