Steven Witkoff was invited to Ukraine after a meeting in New York

Last Friday, Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, met in New York with Steve Witkoff, United States presidential special envoy, in the first in-person meeting between the American diplomat and senior Kyiv officials since the start of Donald Trump's new administration.

The meeting is part of the Trump administration's diplomatic efforts to put an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine, which has now lasted three and a half years since its escalation. 

Yermak, accompanied by Ukraine's First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergiy Kyslytsya, took the opportunity to formally invite Witkoff to visit Ukraine.

In a post on the social network X, Yermak stated that the meeting aimed to "promote real diplomacy and ensure the implementation of all agreements reached at the Washington summit."

An official White House source confirmed that the meeting took place, although no further details were provided.

The context of the meeting was especially delicate, as just two days earlier Russia had launched its second most intense attack on Kyiv since the beginning of the war, using a combination of missiles and drones, resulting in 23 deaths. 

Yermak began the meeting by informing Witkoff about the war crimes that, according to him, Russia commits daily against the Ukrainian population. "In particular, I spoke about the massive missile and drone attack in Kyiv that claimed the lives of 23 people," Yermak said. He also accused Moscow of deliberately prolonging the conflict and failing to fulfill the commitments necessary to move toward peace.

Despite the difficulties, the Ukrainian official emphasized that Kyiv "welcomes all peace initiatives presented by the United States," although he regretted that "each of them has been obstructed by Russia."

He also expressed Ukraine's willingness to hold direct negotiations between leaders, opening the door to broad and meaningful talks. "We believe that global pressure is needed for Russia to be truly willing to move toward peace and, in particular, to hold key meetings between leaders for that purpose," he emphasized.

Meanwhile, Kyslytsya described the meeting as constructive and with a "genuine willingness to find viable solutions" to implement the agreements reached between the presidents of Ukraine and the United States in Washington last August 18.

American diplomacy in the conflict has been divided between two key figures: Keith Kellogg, special envoy in Ukraine, and Witkoff himself, responsible for negotiations with Russia. Witkoff, 68 years old, has already visited Moscow on five occasions since Trump took office on January 20, while Kellogg completed his third visit to Ukraine this Monday.

The meeting in New York coincided with another important event for Ukraine: the NASDAQ IPO of the telecommunications company Kyivstar. Although the Ukrainian delegation included Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, she did not participate in the meeting with Witkoff.