Zelensky–Trump envoys call centered on territorial concessions, security guarantees, Axios reported
Territorial concessions and security guarantees for Ukraine were among the most sensitive issues in a recent call between President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, according to people familiar with the talks cited by Axios.
A person familiar with the conversation told Axios that the exchange over territory was among the most sensitive parts of the discussion. According to a second source, Moscow continues to insist that Kyiv pull back from the parts of Donetsk Oblast it still holds, while U.S. negotiators are working on alternative proposals that might narrow the gap between the two sides.
Axios reported that security guarantees for Ukraine were another major focus. One source said the U.S. and Ukraine had moved closer to a shared position and made “significant progress,” but added that both governments still need to ensure they interpret the draft guarantees in the same way.
"The main challenging issues concern territorial matters and security guarantees. We are aiming to ensure that the agreed solutions are realistic, fair, and sustainable," Ukraine’s ambassador in Washington, Olha Stefanishyna, told Axios.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Dec. 6 that he and Ukraine negotiatiors held a "long and substantive" phone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
"Ukraine is determined to keep working in good faith with the American side to genuinely achieve peace. We agreed on the next steps and formats for talks with the United States," Zelensky wrote on Telegram.
He added that they "focused on many aspects and quickly discussed the key issues that could guarantee an end to the bloodshed and remove the threat of a third Russian invasion, as well as the threat of Russia reneging on its promises, as it has done many times in the past."
The call followed several days of negotiations in Miami between Witkoff, Kushner, and Ukraine’s senior negotiator Umerov, talks that both Kyiv and Washington described as “constructive discussions on advancing a credible pathway toward a durable and just peace in Ukraine.”
The renewed diplomacy comes as the United States circulates a revised 28-point framework for ending the war — a plan that has sparked concern in Kyiv over provisions seen as tilting toward Moscow’s long-standing demands.
Rustem Umerov, the secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, and Andrii Hnatov, the chief of staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces, are expected to brief Zelensky in person upon their return to Kyiv.
“Not everything can be discussed over the phone, so we need to work closely with our teams on ideas and proposals,” Zelensky said. “Our approach is that everything must be workable – every crucial measure for peace, security, and reconstruction.”
