Ukraine has asked the US envoys for a substantial package of air defence equipment, energy assistance and liquefied natural gas to help it survive another winter of war, as Washington revived efforts to broker an agreement between Kyiv and Moscow.<\/p>\n
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the proposed \u201cwinter package\u201d was one of the main subjects of three rounds of talks in Kyiv on on September 6 with Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump\u2019s special envoy, and Jared Kushner, the US president\u2019s son-in-law.<\/p>\n
The visit was the first to Kyiv by the two men in their current diplomatic roles and came immediately after more than three hours of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow the day before.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe paid sufficient attention today to the winter period, to all the challenges that could truly arise,\u201d Zelenskiy said after the meetings.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the war continues in the winter, we strongly count on the \u2018winter package\u2019,\u201d he added, saying Ukraine wanted support for air defence and its energy system as well as \u201ca serious volume\u201d of American LNG.<\/p>\n
The discussions underline growing concern in Kyiv that the war could continue through another heating season even as Washington attempts to restart peace negotiations that have repeatedly stalled.<\/p>\n
Russia has stepped up missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure in recent weeks, while Kyiv has continued long-range strikes against Russian oil, military and logistics facilities.<\/p>\n
Zelenskiy said Ukraine was also rapidly expanding its ability to intercept Russia\u2019s growing fleet of jet-powered attack drones.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs of today, we have about 60 companies in Ukraine that are already working on shooting down jet drones \u2014 shooting them down on a massive scale. To be precise \u2014 67,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He added that between three and five companies had already demonstrated results, with Kyiv hoping to move towards mass production.<\/p>\n
But Zelenskiy described the military preparations as a fallback rather than an alternative to diplomacy.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, all of this defence is \u2018Plan B\u2019, although it is very relevant right now,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2018Plan A\u2019 is to accelerate diplomatic efforts as much as possible to de-escalate the situation with Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n
The diplomatic push followed Witkoff and Kushner\u2019s meeting with Putin at the Kremlin on Saturday. Russian officials described those discussions as constructive but gave no indication that Moscow had softened its principal demands.<\/p>\n
The White House said the two sides had discussed substantive plans for the next stages of negotiations, while the Kremlin said the Americans had presented a number of ideas for reaching a settlement.<\/p>\n
The fundamental differences between Moscow and Kyiv remain substantial, particularly over territory.<\/p>\n
Russia continues to insist that any settlement recognise its territorial gains and address what Putin calls the \u201croot causes\u201d of the conflict. Kyiv has rejected Russian demands that it surrender territory it still controls.<\/p>\n
Zelenskiy acknowledged that territorial issues remained part of the negotiations but said decisions of that magnitude would ultimately have to be taken by national leaders rather than negotiating teams.<\/p>\n
The Ukrainian president nevertheless credited Witkoff and Kushner with restarting a diplomatic process that had lost momentum.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to emphasise the role of Steve and Jared in restarting the negotiation process today,\u201d Zelenskiy said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is important that the American team met with the Russian president and also today with me. And we discussed all possibilities \u2014 possibilities for resuming negotiations.\u201d<\/p>\n
European officials were brought into the process during a third round of talks in Kyiv, attended by national security advisers from the UK, France and Germany.<\/p>\n
Ukraine, the US and European governments agreed to hold another meeting in the near future, although Zelenskiy said no location had yet been chosen.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know where the meeting will take place \u2014 in Europe, in the US, or perhaps in Ukraine again,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are open to any possibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alongside attempts to stop the fighting, the talks covered the shape of a possible postwar settlement, including security guarantees and what Zelenskiy described as a \u201cprosperity plan\u201d for Ukraine.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are talking not only about security guarantees, but also economic guarantees for Ukraine to recover and rebuild,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The concept has been under discussion between Kyiv, Washington and European governments for months and is intended to combine reconstruction and investment with a long-term framework designed to deter another Russian attack.<\/p>\n
Zelenskiy said Ukraine\u2019s armed forces would remain the foundation of any security arrangement even if Western governments supplied additional guarantees.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur army must be strong, and that is our primary security guarantee,\u201d he said. \u201cFor all of this, resources are needed. Guarantees must be strong and clear for Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n
The flurry of diplomacy has so far produced no wider ceasefire.<\/p>\n
Moscow temporarily suspended attacks on Kyiv during the US delegation\u2019s visit and Ukraine agreed to refrain from striking Moscow, but military operations have continued elsewhere.<\/p>\n
The weekend talks therefore leave Washington attempting to bridge essentially the same dispute that has frustrated previous negotiations: Ukraine wants binding security guarantees and protection of its sovereignty, while Russia continues to seek territorial and strategic concessions from Kyiv.<\/p>\n
For Ukraine, the parallel negotiations over air defence, LNG and winter energy supplies suggest that Kyiv is preparing for the possibility that diplomacy will once again fail to end the war before temperatures fall.<\/p>\n
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