Kushner says new ideas could help advance talks on ending Russia's war against Ukraine

Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump's son-in-law and special envoy, said new ideas arising from diplomatic discussions could provide openings for progress toward ending Russia's war against Ukraine. Writing on X, he said those ideas were being examined as preparations continued for another round of trilateral negotiations, with some potentially becoming proposals to narrow outstanding differences.

Kushner said he and Steve Witkoff had maintained close contact with Russia, Ukraine and European partners following trilateral meetings and subsequent discussions with Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Their immediate priorities, he wrote, were to help establish direct engagement between Moscow and European partners and develop the agenda for the next round of talks.

He described the ideas under consideration as having different possible paths forward. Some could produce a breakthrough themselves, while others could be developed further to help address unresolved issues. Kushner also pointed to media coverage of the two sides' maximalist demands and forceful political statements, contrasting those public positions with the substance of private discussions.

According to Kushner, both sides privately recognise that ending the war will require practical compromises. He said serious, constructive efforts to find solutions were continuing. His account presented the consultations as ongoing work, with the emerging ideas still being explored and any eventual agreement requiring the consent of the relevant parties.

Kushner said Trump had stressed that a durable peace would depend on dependable security guarantees for Ukraine, alongside detailed and realistic arrangements for security after the war. Those arrangements would need to lower the likelihood of renewed conflict. He added that Trump would support only outcomes that improved security for both Ukraine and Europe.

NATO would retain a central role in European security, Kushner wrote. He described stronger mechanisms covering military matters, communication, the prevention of clashes and mutual steps to ease tensions, together with practical means of handling disputes before they escalate into crises. He linked those objectives to efforts to involve European partners directly in the discussions.

The New York Times previously reported that Russia had demanded during talks in Abu Dhabi that NATO return its forces to their 1997 positions. Russian representatives also invoked Europe's Cold War division into US and Soviet spheres of influence as a possible model for the continent's order after the war.

Two sources familiar with the talks told the newspaper that those demands were Moscow's opening position and that Russian representatives had suggested Putin might show some flexibility. Axios had earlier reported that Washington asked Russia to produce a new proposal for a future security agreement with Europe, including Russian measures intended to reduce tensions.