Politics

Witkoff, Kushner to join Paris summit on Ukraine security guarantees, source says

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Witkoff, Kushner to join Paris summit on Ukraine security guarantees, source says
US special envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner in Moscow on Dec. 2, 2025. (Alexander Kazakov/AFP via Getty Images)

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional information.

U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and U.S. President Donald Trump's adviser Jared Kushner will take part in a leaders' summit on Ukraine's security guarantees in Paris on Jan. 6, a White House official told the Kyiv Independent.

The meeting of the "Coalition of the Willing" will bring together leaders from around 30 countries to discuss long-term security arrangements aimed at preventing a renewed Russian invasion, as negotiations intensify over a broader framework to end Moscow's war.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte will also attend the summit, the alliance's press service said. French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will co-host the meeting.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that bilateral security guarantees between Ukraine and the U.S. are already "fully agreed," while a wider U.S.–Europe–Ukraine arrangement is nearing completion.

The Paris talks are expected to center on this multilateral component, which Kyiv views as critical to deterring future Russian aggression if a peace settlement is reached.

Zelensky said on Jan. 3 that any future guarantees must include the physical presence of foreign troops in Ukraine, arguing that deterrence cannot rely on political assurances alone.

The Ukrainian president highlighted the role of France and the United Kingdom as essential contributors to a lasting peace arrangement.

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Tim Zadorozhnyy

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Tim Zadorozhnyy is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent covering foreign policy, U.S.-Ukraine relations, and political developments across Europe and Russia. He studied International Relations and European Studies at Lazarski University and Coventry University. Tim began his journalism career in Odesa in 2022 as a reporter for a local television channel. He later spent a year and a half at the Belarusian independent media outlet NEXTA, first as a news anchor and later as a managing editor. He is fluent in English, Ukrainian, and Russian.

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