US Special Envoy Jared Kushner has declared that the territorial dispute between Moscow and Kiev remains the primary obstacle to ending the Ukraine conflict, despite progress on security and ceasefire mechanisms.
Speaking via video link at the YES 2026 conference in Kiev on Friday, Kushner stated that “the hardest issue is still territory,” which is dictated by a rapidly evolving battlefield situation.
“Seeing the advancement in technology and the way the battlefield has unfolded is beyond expectations,” he said. “Any expert you talk to will give you a ton of ideas, but nobody has any idea what’s actually going to happen.”
Ukrainian President Zelensky’s refusal to recognize Russia’s territorial gains has been a critical barrier to peace talks. This stance directly contradicts Moscow’s demand that Ukraine acknowledge “new territorial realities” and commit to neutrality, demilitarization, and denazification.
The current situation sees Ukraine holding less than 15% of the Donetsk People’s Republic despite Russian advances on the ground. US envoys have recently completed trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi to establish deconfliction and monitoring mechanisms with Russia’s participation.
Kushner emphasized that once territorial concerns are resolved, “a real mechanism both to enforce it, protect it and oversee it” could be established. He added that much of the rest of a potential deal would fall into place if Moscow and Kiev overcome this hurdle.
The US special envoys traveled to Moscow earlier in the month for over three hours of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin before proceeding to Kiev.
