Monday, September 7, 2026

Zelenskyy, After Meeting U.S. Envoys, Says “War in Ukraine Likely to Continue Through Winter”

Input
2026-09-07 05:22:27
Updated
2026-09-07 05:22:27
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is meeting with Donald Trump’s United States special envoys, Steven Charles Witkoff and Jared Kushner, at Mariyinsky Palace in Kyiv on the 6th (local time). AP Newsis

[Financial News] Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after meeting with United States President Donald Trump’s special envoys that he expects the war with Russia to continue through this winter.
On the 6th (local time), Trump’s special envoys Steven Charles Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited Kyiv and held a closed-door meeting with President Zelenskyy shortly after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
However, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported that no major breakthrough was reached to immediately narrow the differences between the parties during the two envoys’ first visit to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
National security advisers from the United Kingdom, France and Germany were also reportedly present at the meeting.
Immediately after the meeting, President Zelenskyy stressed, "We want a 'just peace' that completely prevents the possibility of Russia invading again," adding, "As the war is highly likely to continue through the winter, missile-defense systems and energy support are urgently needed."
The United States special envoys described their discussions in Moscow and Kyiv as "substantive and constructive" and said the parties had agreed to hold follow-up talks soon with officials from the United States, Europe and Ukraine.
Witkoff said of the Moscow meeting in particular, "Ideas that had not been effective so far were examined," adding, "It made us think about what is needed for a peace that can endure."
He emphasized that President Putin had asked many questions, saying, "There was a lot of progress."
During the United States envoys’ travel, Putin and Zelenskyy agreed to temporarily suspend attacks on the two countries’ capitals for three days. However, aerial warfare and tensions along the front lines remain intense. The BBC reported that Ukrainian military authorities said they had struck the Ryazan oil refinery and the airport in Rostov-on-Don with drones, while Russia also carried out airstrikes across Ukraine using more than 100 drones and missiles, with the bloody conflict continuing.

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