Talks with Ukraine 'very productive and constructive,' US envoy Witkoff says ahead of Security Council meeting
White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff held talks with Ukrainian officials in New York City on Aug. 29, calling the discussions "very productive and constructive," Fox News reported. He met with Andriy Yermak, head of Ukraine’s presidential office, and Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine’s first deputy foreign minister, ahead of Kyiv’s emergency Security Council meeting.
Senior officials said the Ukrainians provided a status update on the war and Russia’s latest large-scale attack on Kyiv that killed 25 people and wounded 63 others.
The meeting was described by Trump administration officials as both a progress report and a reaffirmation of efforts to bring Ukraine and Russia to the table for an eventual peace deal, according to Fox News.
Ukrainian officials also invited Witkoff to visit Kyiv in the future. Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised Witkoff as "a key member of President Trump’s team and plays an indispensable role in advancing the president’s priorities," while Vice President JD Vance said Witkoff has "made more progress toward ending the bloodshed in Ukraine than all his critics combined."
Other senior figures also defended Witkoff’s role in the talks. Rubio said his "unique perspective and innovative approach open new opportunities for diplomacy that were previously unavailable," while Vance added that critics are simply "threatened by Steve’s success and… opposed to a productive peace process."
Reports this week, however, quoted anonymous sources questioning whether Witkoff has sufficient experience to handle the Ukraine-Russia war. Vance rejected that criticism, describing Witkoff as "a natural diplomat, an experienced negotiator and a true humanitarian."
The meeting in New York came just hours after Ukraine requested an emergency U.N. Security Council briefing following Russia’s overnight aerial assault on Kyiv and other cities. According to Ukrainian officials, Russia used nearly 600 drones and more than 30 ballistic and cruise missiles in its latest wave of strikes. Denmark, France, Greece, South Korea, Slovenia, and the U.K. backed Kyiv’s call for the session.
The escalation follows a series of high-level meetings earlier in August. Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Aug. 15, where Putin proposed Ukraine cede territory in exchange for peace, and days later hosted President Volodymyr Zelensky and several European leaders at the White House.
Trump said the next step is a trilateral meeting with Putin and Zelensky. But after the latest strikes, Zelensky blasted Putin for choosing "ballistics instead of the negotiating table," calling for "new, tough sanctions against Russia for everything it is doing."
