The Trump administration is exploring steps that could reduce fighting between Russia and Ukraine during the winter and create an opening for renewed negotiations, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, even as Moscow resumed missile and drone attacks on Kyiv following a brief lull surrounding visits by U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff.
Zelensky told Axios that Washington is considering measures involving energy infrastructure, grain shipments and other areas where limited agreements might be possible. The diplomatic push follows weekend trips by Kushner and Witkoff to Moscow and Kyiv, where they met separately with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelensky.
The Ukrainian leader said the message conveyed after the Americans' talks in Moscow was that "the Russians are ready to negotiate." Zelensky remains skeptical of Putin's intentions after months of escalating Russian attacks, but said he believes the Russian president is "ready to discuss" possible arrangements.
"There are ideas around energy [facilities] and around grain [shipments], around electricity [facilities] and around oil and gas [exports]. We have different interests, Russia and we," Zelensky told Axios. He said the period before winter could offer an opportunity to revive diplomacy while Ukraine simultaneously prepares for continued fighting.
Kushner and Witkoff traveled to Kyiv after holding roughly three hours of talks with Putin in Moscow on Saturday. The trip represented the envoys' first visit to Ukraine since Trump returned to the White House, and Reuters reported that the two sides discussed possible new negotiations without producing an immediate breakthrough.
Kremlin foreign-policy aide Yuri Ushakov said the American delegation had "formulated a number of ideas regarding possible paths to a settlement," according to Axios. Witkoff described the discussions as "very meaningful discussion, substantive, important, and we're very encouraged," while cautioning that both Russia and Ukraine would have to make "compromises" for negotiations to succeed.
Zelensky also linked the potential diplomatic opening to Putin's relationship with Trump. He told Axios that Putin "needs" the U.S. president and doesn't want to "upset him" ahead of the American midterm elections. Asked whether Putin might want to give Trump a diplomatic achievement before the vote, Zelensky replied, "yeah."
Any diplomatic opening remains overshadowed by continued Russian attacks. Russia struck Kyiv again Tuesday after Kushner and Witkoff had departed, killing three people and injuring 19, according to Ukrainian officials. Residential buildings, a school, a medical facility and other sites were damaged as Russia attacked multiple Ukrainian regions with missiles and drones.
The renewed bombardment followed one of Russia's most high-profile strikes in Kyiv last week. On Sept. 4, a Russian drone hit the headquarters of the Security Service of Ukraine, or SBU, with Zelensky saying the aircraft appeared to have been deliberately directed toward the office of the agency's chief. At least 12 people were injured in that attack, according to Kyiv officials.
"The drone was aimed directly at the office of the Head of the Security Service in that building," Zelensky said after the strike. He ordered Ukrainian forces to prepare an "appropriate, tangible response" and said Kyiv would seek to mirror Russia's actions where possible.
The SBU has played a central role in some of Ukraine's most ambitious operations against Russia. The agency was involved in the 2022 attack on the Kerch Bridge connecting Russia with occupied Crimea and the 2025 "Spiderweb" operation, which used drones to attack Russian strategic bombers at air bases far from Ukraine.
Ukraine has increasingly carried the war deeper into Russian territory with long-range drone attacks targeting oil, military and logistics infrastructure. Moscow, meanwhile, has intensified its missile and drone campaign against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure while pressing an offensive in the eastern Donetsk region.
Despite those developments, Zelensky said Tuesday that the American envoys had presented what he described as "decent ideas" for restarting diplomacy. Discussions have included grain shipments, energy infrastructure and prisoner exchanges, while possible locations for future negotiations include Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland.
