“No sense informing Kyiv”: Why Trump’s envoys skipped Zelenskyy after Moscow talks collapsed
US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner were scheduled to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Brussels on 3 December. However, the planned meeting was cancelled, journalist Alex Rafoglu reports.
Rafoglu also cited Ushakov, who claimed that Witkoff and Kushner assured Russian officials that “they would not go to Kyiv and would instead return home, to Washington.”
Earlier media reports suggested that after meeting Putin in Moscow, Witkoff and Kushner would travel to one of the European capitals, Brussels, for talks with Zelenskyy. However, this did not happen.
According to Rafoglu’s sources, the Brussels meeting was cancelled: “Zelenskyy is returning home.”
“There was no point informing Kyiv that Putin wants one thing and Ukraine another”
Political analyst Ihor Reiterovych believes the meeting between Zelenskyy and Witkoff fell through because, after visiting the Kremlin, the US representatives failed to reach even minimal common ground with Putin that could be presented to Ukraine, according to Focus.
“There is no sense in informing Kyiv merely that Putin wants one thing and Ukraine wants another. So, in my view, Witkoff went straight to Trump to coordinate positions,” Reiterovych.
Nothing to report to Zelenskyy
Reiterovych noted that President Zelenskyy himself had said a meeting with Witkoff was “possible,” but only if the American side came with at least some results.
“If they had brought anything substantive, Zelenskyy would have been informed immediately,” the expert explained.
Instead, there was no real progress. Following the Moscow talks, Witkoff returned to Trump empty-handed.
