Ukraine Says War May Last Through Another Winter as Kyiv Holds Follow-Up Talks After US-Russia Negotiations

Ukraine is seeking a new package of allied support, including stronger air defenses and energy assistance, as it prepares for the possibility that the war with Russia could last through another winter.

Bloomberg reported on September 6 that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met in Kyiv with Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, envoys for negotiations from US President Donald Trump, to discuss talks on ending the war and future support measures. Senior national security officials from the UK, France and Germany later joined the meeting.

Zelenskiy said the US, Ukraine and Europe agreed to continue negotiations later at a time and place to be determined. He also stressed the need for a support package including stronger air-defense systems, energy assistance and supplies of US liquefied natural gas, or LNG, if the war drags on.

Witkoff arrived in Kyiv after earlier talks in Moscow with representatives of Russian President Vladimir Putin. He said there had been progress in Moscow and that he had brought new ideas to Kyiv. Details of any proposal to end the war were not disclosed. Zelenskiy added that the discussions also covered a "prosperity plan" for rebuilding Ukraine's postwar economy.

Territory, the central sticking point, remains unresolved. Russia is demanding that Ukraine cede additional remaining territory in the eastern Donetsk region as a condition for ending the war, but Ukraine has rejected that demand.

On the territorial issue, Zelenskiy said it must be resolved at the leaders' level. He was reiterating his position that Ukraine cannot give up defensive lines in key Donetsk cities that Russian forces have been unable to capture for an extended period since 2014.

The Kyiv meeting took place shortly after the US delegation held more than three hours of talks with Russian officials in Moscow the previous day. The Kremlin described those talks as substantive, constructive and very frank.

Trump had earlier said at the White House that Kushner and Witkoff were traveling with a proposal to end the war, though he did not disclose details.

Russia has recently continued airstrikes on Kyiv using a new type of drone equipped with jet engines, adding to pressure on Ukraine's air defenses. The two sides agreed to temporarily halt attacks targeting each other's capitals over the weekend.