A senior Ukrainian presidential official told AFP on Sunday that Washington's envoys had arrived in Kyiv carrying something different — and better. "It's not the same as it was before," the official said. "This one now is more effective." The two men, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, had flown to Kyiv just 24 hours after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, marking their first-ever visit to the Ukrainian capital.

Ukraine's rail operator posted a photograph of both envoys standing beneath a station sign that read "Peace Express" as they departed early Monday — a detail that was either hopeful symbolism or well-managed optics. President Volodymyr Zelensky struck a tone that mixed cautious optimism with sober realism. He said the war "appeared" likely to run into winter and stressed that only a direct meeting between himself and Putin could resolve the most contentious territorial disputes. Yet he also thanked the American visitors warmly, writing on X that Ukraine's goal remained "a dignified, reliable, and lasting peace.

" No breakthrough was announced. No ceasefire date was set. Both sides described the discussions as substantive, and both sides kept talking — which, as the Ukrainian official pointedly noted, is itself the most important part. The gap between the two positions, however, remains vast.

Russia currently occupies large stretches of eastern and southern Ukraine, and the Kremlin signalled on Saturday that it was confident of advancing further. Moscow is demanding that not only the territory it holds but the land it additionally claims be formally recognised as Russian — terms Kyiv has flatly rejected.