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EXCLUSIVE: White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff met with Ukrainian officials in New York City Friday for “very productive and constructive” talks ahead of Kyiv’s emergency U.N. Security Council meeting, Fox News Digital has learned.
Witkoff met with Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s office of the president and chief of staff, and Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine’s ambassador extraordinary.
RUSSIAN ATTACK KILLS 17, INJURES 48 OTHERS IN KYIV, UKRAINIAN OFFICIALS SAY
Senior administration officials familiar with the meeting told Fox News Digital that Yermak and Kyslytsya gave Witkoff a status update on the war with Russia and Moscow’s most recent attacks.
Russia launched a large-scale attack on Kyiv Wednesday night, killing at least 17 people, wounding 48 others and damaging buildings, officials in Ukraine said.
The Ukrainian officials invited Witkoff to visit Ukraine in the future, a senior official told Fox News Digital.
Witkoff is continuing talks with Ukrainian officials, who say they are making progress.
The meeting, according to Trump administration officials, was a status update and a reaffirmation of the goal of getting both Ukraine and Russia to meet to ultimately reach an agreement to end the war.
Witkoff’s diplomatic approach in the highly sensitive talks has been met with praise by Trump Cabinet officials and foreign officials alike.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio also touted Witkoff’s work, saying he is “a key member of President Trump’s team and plays an indispensable role in advancing the president’s priorities.”
Rubio told Fox News Digital that Witkoff’s “unique perspective and innovative approach open new opportunities for diplomacy that were previously unavailable.”
“It’s been remarkable to see him in action and a privilege to call him a colleague,” Rubio told Fox News Digital.
National Security Advisor to the United Kingdom Jonathan Powell also praised Witkoff’s style.
Powell reflected on his more than 30 years of experience in peace negotiations, telling Fox News Digital that “there is a lot of snobbery in diplomacy — that peace can only be made in grand chandelier rooms, with a delegation of tens of officials and decades of diplomatic experience.”
“But in my experience, the people who are actually successful at making peace operate on their own and concentrate on building trust between key leaders on either side and moving quietly to cut a deal,” Powell said. “Steve Witkoff is exactly that sort of person.”
Powell told Fox News Digital that Witkoff’s experience of “making deals in a completely different field,” along with his “charm and optimism, unburdened by the tens of reasons why an initiative cannot work, and a steely focus on getting to a lasting agreement.”
“In the court of this year, Steve has been able to open doors that no one else could and make peace possible in a series of different conflicts which would otherwise have remained insoluble,” Powell said.
And Jared Kushner, a former senior adviser to Trump during his first administration, told Fox News Digital that the Trump administration’s “small, focused teams with the right leadership can achieve great results.”
“Coming from the deal world, managing several complex deals at the same time is not uncommon,” Kushner said, touting Witkoff’s “commitment, creativity, and determination to solve some of the world’s most complex problems.”
“Steve is quick to seek out advice and expertise when he is assessing a situation and evolves his perspectives as the facts change,” Kushner said.
Reports this week, however, quoted anonymous sources who said Witkoff didn’t have enough experience to handle the Ukraine–Russia conflict.
Vice President JD Vance, though, told Fox News Digital that Witkoff has “made more progress toward ending the bloodshed in Ukraine than all his critics combined.”
“He’s a natural diplomat, an experienced negotiator, and a true humanitarian,” Vance said.
Vance blasted those who have criticized Witkoff for simply being “threatened.”
RUSSIA LAUNCHES LARGEST ATTACK ON UKRAINE THIS MONTH FOLLOWING TRUMP’S MEETINGS WITH PUTIN, ZELENSKYY
“These smears are coming from lifelong bureaucrats who are threatened by Steve’s success, and who are basically opposed to a productive peace process,” Vance said.
Meanwhile, Witkoff’s meeting with officials in New York City comes just hours after Ukraine requested an emergency open briefing at the U.N. Security Council following Russia’s overnight aerial attacks on Kyiv and other cities across Ukraine.
Council members Denmark, France, Greece, the Republic of Korea, Slovenia and the United Kingdom supported the meeting request.
Reports say Russia used nearly 600 drones and more than 30 ballistic and cruise missiles in the attack this week.
Russia’s continued attacks come after Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska earlier in August. Putin proposed Ukraine cede some territory in exchange for peace.
Days later, Trump hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and several European heads of state at the White House, as he urged Ukraine to accept a land swap deal with Russia. Trump has argued that it is the most efficient way to end the war.
Trump hosted Zelenskyy along with French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Finnish President Alexander Stubb.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also attended the meeting at the White House.
Trump is coordinating the next steps in brokering an end to the war, and is encouraging Putin and Zelenskyy to meet.
Trump has said that after Putin and Zelenskyy meet, he will host a “trilat,” which will be a meeting with Putin, Zelenskyy and Trump.
“After that meeting takes place, we will have a Trilat, which would be the two Presidents, plus myself,” Trump said last week. “Again, this was a very good, early step for a War that has been going on for almost four years. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, are coordinating with Russia and Ukraine.”
But after the latest attack, Zelenskyy blasted Putin saying Russia “chooses ballistics instead of the negotiating table. It chooses to continue killing instead of ending the war.”
“And this means that Russia still does not fear the consequences,” Zelenskyy said. “Russia still takes advantage of the fact that at least part of the world turns a blind eye to murdered children and seeks excuses for Putin.”
Zelenskyy added that it is “definitely time for new, tough sanctions against Russia for everything it is doing.”
“All deadlines have already been broken, dozens of opportunities for diplomacy ruined,” he said. “Russia must feel accountable for every strike, for every day of this war. Eternal memory to all victims of Russia.”
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