Kyiv now expects the fighting to continue and is preparing for a hard winter, after high-profile visits by US envoys produced symbolism but no settlement. The envoys met Ukraine's president at Saint Sophia Cathedral, a potent backdrop only yards from where recent drone strikes hit Ukraine's security headquarters.
The delegation included Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who reached Kyiv after talks in Moscow where Vladimir Putin told them Russia was making "tangible advances" on the battlefield. The envoys travelled to Ukraine by train because of the risk posed by Russian drones, underlining both the danger on the ground and the awkward optics of envoys meeting leaders in Moscow and Kyiv within hours.
Ukraine presented a different account of the fighting. Ukrainian officials say they gained more ground than they lost in August and report Russia suffered 42,000 casualties, dead or wounded. President Volodymyr Zelensky told the envoys his country will require "strong and clear" security guarantees, including a robust army, and gave no sign of ceding territory in the eastern Donbas, a matter he described as "difficult".
The meetings in Kyiv ran for several hours and were later joined by European national security advisers, including the UK's National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell. Participants described the talks as substantive and raised the prospect of reviving previous trilateral diplomacy that would include the US and European partners.
Witkoff said progress had been made and that the elements for a settlement existed, but he acknowledged both sides would need to make compromises to close the gap between their positions. That gap remains wide: Putin's side has repeatedly linked any settlement to strategic demands that would see Ukraine give up territory, abandon aspirations to join Nato and reduce its armed forces.
For now, Kyiv expects the brief pause in air strikes agreed during the visit to offer only short relief. Some diplomats hold out hope of a window for negotiations next spring, but others are less optimistic. Absent meaningful movement on the core demands each side presented in Moscow and Kyiv, the immediate outlook is continued combat and diplomatic stagnation into winter.
