Steve Whitkow threatens to block Kyiv deal until peace in Ukraine is secured

President Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, assured this week that he will not approve a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia until the Ukrainians feel confident that Moscow will not take up arms against them again.

“There is no agreement here unless Ukraine and its people can believe that they will be able to live in peace should a diplomatic solution be reached,” Witkoff said in an online speech at the Yalta European Strategy conference held on Tuesday.

This has to be the ultimate outcome — a reality where peace exists.

I believe this will require strong security protocols from the United States to support equally strong security protocols from Europe. We addressed this at the first meeting in Geneva — we worked several hours — to define it.

Witkoff and Jared Kushner are back in Geneva on Thursday, where they will first meet with an Iranian delegation before holding talks with Ukrainian negotiators.

“Today in Geneva, we continue our work within the framework of the negotiation process,” said National Security Advisor and head of the Ukrainian delegation, Rustem Umerov.

Together with the government’s economic team, we will thoroughly work on the prosperity package: mechanisms for financial support and Ukraine’s recovery, tools to attract investments, and frameworks for long-term cooperation.

The teams will also “align their positions” ahead of further talks with Russia, which will include “the issue of possible prisoner exchanges,” Umerov said.

“We expect tangible results regarding the return of our citizens,” he added.

We are focusing on practical solutions.

The U.S.-Ukraine discussions precede a fourth trilateral meeting between Washington, Kyiv, and Moscow scheduled for next week, during which the three sides will assess whether they can move forward with organizing a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

Witkoff stated on Tuesday that he “strongly believes” such a meeting could take place — a breakthrough that would be the most important step toward resolving the conflict since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine over four years ago.

“We think we have tried to solve the other issues first and then leave the territorial issue to the leaders,” he said. “There is a lot of work on the territorial issue; we need to consider different concepts and many options.”

Zelensky has repeatedly expressed readiness to meet Putin to discuss ending the war, but Putin has so far rejected any serious chances for such a meeting.

If the summit takes place, Witkoff said, it could be followed by another meeting including President Trump — although the envoy added that it is “too early to talk” about such a possibility.

“We will do everything we can to help you reach the right solution, the right peaceful solution, so that one day everyone in your country can live in peace,” Witkoff said.

The very next day, the Kremlin appeared to pour cold water on Witkoff’s optimistic tone, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov questioning “whether there is any point at all to holding a summit” between Putin and Zelensky.

Peskov added that a trilateral meeting between Trump, Putin, and Zelensky should only happen when all parties are ready to “finalize agreements.”