Trump Set to Call Putin, Then Zelensky, as Kyiv Peace Push Ends Without Breakthrough

A day after US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner wrapped their first visit to Kyiv — meeting President Volodymyr Zelensky twice with UK, French, and German national security advisers joining a third session — a US official told the Kyiv Independent that President Trump would consult with the envoys before calling Vladimir Putin and then Zelensky, with both calls expected on September 7. The official said the sequencing reflected the White House's view that a lasting settlement requires Russia's direct participation. The Kyiv round of talks produced no diplomatic breakthrough: Zelensky told reporters 'we expect the war will continue,' saying Ukraine is instead counting on US energy and air defense support for the coming winter. Kushner said the US still hoped to restart trilateral US-Russia-Ukraine negotiations. The reciprocal 72-hour pause on long-range strikes against Moscow and Kyiv, agreed to accommodate the shuttle diplomacy, had expired.