Zelensky Jokes Witkoff and Kushner Outperformed Patriot Systems

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday told U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner that their arrival in Kyiv had proved more effective for the capital’s residents than its Patriot air-defense systems.

“Today you performed even better than Patriot systems for our citizens who are in the capital,” Zelensky told the two men during their first visit to Ukraine.

“Thank you, come more often. And our people will have the opportunity to live a little longer.”

The remark came as Witkoff and Kushner joined Zelensky and senior Ukrainian officials for talks in Kyiv, a day after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

U.S. Envoys Move from Moscow to Kyiv

Witkoff and Kushner traveled to the Ukrainian capital by train after more than three hours of discussions with Putin on Saturday.

Their Kyiv schedule included talks with Zelensky’s negotiating team and senior national security officials from the U.K., Germany and France.

Zelensky said the discussions had already proceeded through two separate panels and emphasized what he described as a shared objective among those attending.

“Here we are all on one side, and we all really want there to be no war, no suffering, for people not to die, so that this war ends with a fair, fair peace for all of us,” he said.

Witkoff described the negotiations as substantial and said President Donald Trump had asked him and Kushner to make the trip.

“We're having a great time here, and the hospitality is unsurpassed,” Witkoff told Zelensky. “The President wanted Jared and I to come here.”

Kyiv Visit Follows Putin Meeting

The Kyiv talks followed a Moscow meeting that Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov described as substantive, constructive and highly candid.

Putin told the U.S. delegation that the situation in Ukraine was “not a simple one,” while the Russian side reiterated confidence in achieving its stated military objectives.

Trump had said on Friday that Witkoff and Kushner were carrying a proposal aimed at ending the war, without disclosing its terms.

The U.S. envoys’ visit to Ukraine was expected in April but was repeatedly delayed as the White House focused on the U.S. war in Iran.

Ukraine Pushes Security Guarantees

Ahead of the U.S. delegation’s arrival, Zelensky convened senior members of his negotiating team, including Davyd Arakhamia, Serhii Kyslytsia, Rustem Umerov and Kyrylo Budanov.

Ukraine has maintained that any settlement must include security guarantees that can deter future Russian attacks.

Zelensky said Ukraine remained prepared to negotiate constructively and wanted a postwar settlement that preserved what he called a dignified peace.

Previous U.S.-brokered talks produced little progress after Moscow demanded that Ukraine surrender the remaining parts of the eastern Donetsk region still outside Russian control.

Kyiv has repeatedly rejected that demand.

Temporary Respite Over Kyiv

Putin ordered Russian forces to pause airstrikes on Kyiv as Witkoff and Kushner prepared to visit the capital.

Air-raid sirens nevertheless sounded intermittently on Saturday afternoon, while Russia and Ukraine continued exchanging drone attacks overnight.

Neither Moscow nor Kyiv was struck during those exchanges, according to the information provided.