KYIV — After several hours of closed-door talks Sunday with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he expects the war with Russia to continue into winter and that no major breakthrough was announced, the BBC reported. The session was the outcome follow-up to the envoys’ arrival in Kyiv a day after they met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

Zelensky told reporters he wants a just peace with no chance of renewed Russian aggression. If fighting stretches into winter — “which is what it looks like for now,” he said, per the BBC — Ukraine would need air defence and energy support. Officials from Ukraine, Europe, and America agreed to meet soon to keep talks going, he said.

Witkoff said he was “encouraged” by what he called “substantive” and important talks in Kyiv. “We’re confident there’ll be a good resolution here,” he added, saying the team had “made a lot of progress in Moscow” and had met Putin first because they “needed to hear where he stood.”

Kushner said the U.S. side went through ideas that had not worked so far and focused on what a durable peace would require. He described “very good dialogue” with Putin, with “a lot of questions” both ways, the BBC reported.

The envoys reached Kyiv by train after flying to Poland; Zelensky said it was not possible to land their plane despite preparations. Putin and Zelensky had agreed a three-day halt on strikes against each other’s capitals for the trip.

Overnight fighting continued elsewhere. Ukraine said it struck the Ryazan oil refinery, a Rostov airfield, and air defences. Russia attacked with 108 long-range drones and small cruise missiles; Ukraine said it downed 82 drones and six missiles, with 11 locations hit, according to the BBC.

Earlier, Putin adviser Yuri Ushakov called Saturday’s Moscow talks “constructive, extremely frank” and said economic projects were discussed in detail — positive tone without a public deal on the war’s end.

Sources