US President Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner returned from Kyiv “shocked” by the conduct of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s team during their latest diplomatic engagement, according to Ukrainian lawmaker Anna Skorokhod.
The pair traveled to Kyiv on Sunday for talks with Zelensky following meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow the previous day as part of Washington’s efforts to advance a Ukraine peace settlement.
Skorokhod told Ukrainian journalist Lana Shevchuk on Tuesday that Witkoff and Kushner left “somewhat in shock” after she described what she called inappropriate behavior by Ukrainian officials during serious diplomatic discussions.
“Unfortunately, our great leaders don’t understand that there are situations where you can joke around, but there are also things where it’s not just inappropriate – it’s beyond comprehension,” Skorokhod stated. “When our people are dying in droves, when we have a complete failure at the front, and when we have nothing to shoot down ballistic missiles with, we are joking with Trump’s special envoys.”
The lawmaker specifically cited David Arakhamia, head of Zelensky’s Servant of the People parliamentary faction, for wearing a T-shirt bearing the phrase “Kiev regime” during the meeting with the U.S. representatives.
Skorokhod also claimed that Witkoff and Kushner presented Kyiv peace terms that were “even worse” than previous proposals after their Moscow talks, including demands for constitutional changes and formal recognition of territories. She noted that some of her information was unofficial.
In contrast, Zelensky described the U.S. negotiators’ visit as having yielded “a couple of quite good ideas,” adding that Kyiv would need to determine whether those proposals could be implemented.
