Witkoff and Kushner’s first Kyiv visit in doubt as Witkoff ‘gets scared,’ Kyiv Independent reports
A planned visit to Kyiv by U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner is now in doubt, with a source telling the Kyiv Independent that Witkoff “started to get scared” about traveling to the Ukrainian capital.
The two envoys had been planning to visit Moscow and Kyiv on Sept. 5–6, according to a person familiar with the plans.
“The Russians don’t want them to come here to Kyiv, and Witkoff is always sensitive to Russian sentiment,” the source told the Kyiv Independent. “They’re being told there that it’s dangerous.”
A person close to the Trump administration separately confirmed that the trip had been planned but said it “might still be canceled.”
The report comes a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the U.S. envoys had confirmed plans to visit both Moscow and Kyiv.
“There are preliminary dates,” Zelenskyy said on Sept. 3. “We expect to see representatives of the American president here in Kyiv. We have confirmation from them: there will be a meeting in Moscow and in Kyiv.”
The trip would be Witkoff and Kushner’s first visit to Ukraine. Both have traveled to Moscow multiple times for meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The two had previously been expected to visit Kyiv around Ukraine’s Independence Day in August, but the trip was postponed.
The Kyiv Independent also noted that Washington had previously asked Ukraine not to strike Moscow during CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s visit to Russia on Aug. 25.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the White House would again ask Ukraine to refrain from strikes on Moscow during Witkoff and Kushner’s planned visit. He did not say whether Russia would make a similar commitment regarding attacks on Kyiv while the U.S. envoys were there.
Washington has not publicly commented on Witkoff and Kushner’s plans to visit Ukraine.
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