A quiet Kyiv, a ‘Kyiv regime’ T-shirt: Inside Zelenskyy's talks with Witkoff and Kushner

The talks were initially expected to take place at Kyiv's Mariinskyi Palace. But journalists who arrived there early in the morning suddenly learned that the venue had been moved to St. Sophia's Cathedral. The start was also pushed back by two hours, without explanation.

The drive across rainy Kyiv turned into a race for the best position to cover a meeting drawing international attention. By the time reporters reached St. Sophia's Square, a line had already formed at the entrance.

More than 50 journalists waited behind a security cordon, some standing and others kneeling to get a better view.

“And then they'll say we got down on our knees before the Americans,” a journalist nearby joked.

Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Presidential Office, was among the first Ukrainian officials to arrive, followed by Foreign Intelligence Service chief Rustem Umerov, lawmaker Davyd Arakhamia and First Deputy Presidential Office chief Sergiy Kyslytsya.

Asked about his mood on the way in, Arakhamia smiled.

“Ready for battle,” he said.

Soon afterward, the Ukrainian officials emerged onto the square with Zelenskyy to greet Witkoff and Kushner, who had arrived in Kyiv after more than three hours of talks with Putin in Moscow.

Ukraine had initially prepared to receive the U.S. delegation at an airport, Zelenskyy said, but Russian attacks made flying into Kyiv impossible.

“Unfortunately, the Russians showed with their strikes that they cannot use a plane, although we had everything prepared. Our airports work,” Zelenskyy said.

Witkoff and Kushner stepped out of their black vehicles smiling.

“Steve! Jared!” Zelenskyy called out.

The three shook hands and embraced before the U.S. envoys greeted the rest of the Ukrainian delegation. They then entered St. Sophia's Cathedral without the press.

Video later published by Zelenskyy showed the American visitors being given a brief tour of the cathedral before the talks began.

The talks took place in three rounds. National security advisers from the E3 - Germany, France and the United Kingdom - joined the second round after traveling to Kyiv with Witkoff and Kushner.

“We are very grateful that the Europeans are with us today. It is very important for us to do everything possible to end this war,” Zelenskyy said during the meeting.

Witkoff said the U.S. delegation had heard “new ideas” during its talks in Moscow and brought them to Kyiv for discussion.

The American envoys also want to revive trilateral talks between Ukraine, the United States and Russia.

“You heard President Zelenskyy talk about a trilateral that we're hopeful will be announced in short order,” Witkoff later told reporters.

Kushner said Trump had tasked him and Witkoff with developing a “peace package” aimed not merely at ending the fighting but at creating a framework for a durable peace.

He also said the U.S. had been working closely with European partners and discussed opportunities for Ukraine's postwar economic recovery and investment.

While the talks continued, reporters moved back to Mariinskyi Palace to wait for the press conference.

As it drew closer, journalists crowded around Zelenskyy's press secretary, Serhii Nykyforov, looking for details from behind closed doors.

Nykyforov offered one.

“Zelenskyy pointed to Arakhamia's T-shirt saying ‘Kyiv regime’ and said there were ones just like it for Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner,” he told reporters.

The phrase “Kyiv regime” is routinely used by Russian officials and propaganda as a derogatory term for Ukraine's government.

Asked how the American envoys reacted to the prospective gifts, Nykyforov said: “With smiles. Americans respond to everything with a smile - that's their etiquette.”

At the press conference, Arakhamia opened his jacket to show reporters the black “Kyiv regime” T-shirt underneath.

When the delegations finally appeared before reporters, Zelenskyy opened with another joke about the unusually quiet day in Kyiv.

“You worked better for our citizens in the capital today than the Patriot systems,” he told Witkoff and Kushner. “Thank you. Come more often. Then people will have a chance to live a little.”

Air defense remained a serious subject of the talks. Asked about Ukraine's needs, Zelenskyy noted that the issue remained urgent despite the temporary quiet over the capital.

“We could work a little longer this evening so that the American-European delegation stays for a day, or even three,” he joked. “Then the quiet would last longer too.”

Reporters were given time for just six questions — three from Ukrainian media and three from foreign outlets.

Asked whether Putin had been misleading him throughout their repeated contacts, Witkoff said maintaining relationships with both sides was essential to reaching a diplomatic settlement.

“My job and Jared's job together is to bring the parties together, to narrow the issues between them, to create the communication channels,” he said.

Kushner was more cautious when asked about the chances of the latest diplomatic effort succeeding.

“I can't guarantee that there will be success,” he said, promising that he and Witkoff would continue trying to find a way to end the war.

For Kyiv, at least, their visit brought something more immediate: a rare respite from air raid alerts.

But the quiet did not extend across Ukraine.

“If only they could be taken through Kherson, Sumy, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kryvyi Rih and Odesa as well,” former Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Valeriy Chaly later wrote.

While the American envoys were in Kyiv, other Ukrainian cities had no such respite from Russian attacks.