Kushner says Ukraine's refusal to cede territory is blocking a peace settlement

Territory remains the central obstacle

US presidential envoy Jared Kushner has said Ukraine's refusal to withdraw from territory claimed by Russia is preventing negotiators from completing a proposed settlement. Speaking at the Yalta European Strategy conference on September 11, Kushner presented the territorial question as the principal unresolved element after recent American contacts with Moscow and Kyiv. The Kyiv Independent reported his remarks on September 13, following visits by Kushner and fellow envoy Steve Witkoff to both capitals.

Kushner said Russian President Vladimir Putin had set out the line Moscow wanted during talks on September 5. His description appeared to concern Russia's demand for Ukrainian withdrawal from parts of the Donbas that Russian forces do not fully control. Kyiv rejects surrendering territory and instead supports a halt along the existing front, combined with security guarantees intended to deter another invasion. Kushner said Washington was searching for an alternative formula and expected to outline further steps within weeks.

Diplomacy has restarted without a breakthrough

The visits produced agreement in principle to resume trilateral negotiations among Ukraine, Russia and the United States, but no political breakthrough. Ukraine's presidential office had said before the mission that it wanted substantive proposals capable of moving the war toward an end. After meeting the envoys in Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Washington for restarting the process while emphasising that peace had to be reliable and that Russia must not be rewarded for prolonging the conflict.

The disagreement is larger than the placement of a ceasefire line. Accepting compulsory territorial concessions would conflict with Ukraine's claim to sovereignty over its internationally recognised borders and could shape security calculations well beyond this war. The European Council has stated that borders must not be changed by force, that negotiations cannot be decided without Ukraine and that any durable settlement must preserve Ukrainian independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

What comes next

Attention now turns to whether the anticipated next round of trilateral talks can separate immediate humanitarian measures from the unresolved political settlement. Previous rounds generated prisoner exchanges even when broader negotiations stalled. The territorial question, security guarantees and the sequencing of any ceasefire remain the issues most likely to determine whether the renewed US initiative advances or merely formalises the existing deadlock. Kushner's remarks establish the dispute clearly, but they do not amount to an agreed concession, ceasefire or timetable for peace.