Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed representatives hand-picked by U.S. President Donald Trump to Kyiv for discussions about the ongoing war. The envoys were White House special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Zelenskyy said there would be a chance for in-depth conversation during their visit. He added that Ukraine has always been and will remain constructive in the peace process.
Trump's negotiators were said to be carrying a proposal aimed at ending the conflict, though no details were shared publicly, according to The Japan Times. Russian officials described the talks with Trump’s envoys as substantive and trusting. The discussions were said to have been detailed in nature, according to Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov.
The September visit was Witkoff and Kushner’s first trip to Kyiv since Trump returned to office. Earlier U.S.-mediated trilateral talks took place in Geneva in February but later stalled as Washington shifted attention to the Iran war.
During the visit, Russia paused some of its air strikes on Kyiv as the envoys prepared to arrive. Despite this pause, air-raid sirens still sounded in Kyiv during the day on Saturday. Russia and Ukraine had agreed to a limited pause in strikes on each other's capitals during the diplomatic visit.
Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland have been discussed as possible hosts for renewed peace talks. Zelenskyy had previously said a peace plan was nearly finalized in December, but little movement happened since then.
The visit of Trump’s envoys followed days of continuous Russian airstrikes using new jet-powered drones. A Ukrainian lawmaker said Russian drones struck two old passenger planes at Zhuliany airport, while a separate Russian drone strike hit the headquarters of Ukraine’s internal security service in downtown Kyiv. The airport claim was not independently confirmed by Kyiv authorities at the time.
On September 12, Russian attacks killed 10 civilians across Ukraine and Zelenskyy said Russia had launched nearly 500 drones since early morning, according to Reuters. The strikes hit several regions and damaged residential buildings and infrastructure.
Former U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll made public remarks at a conference in Kyiv on September 12, 2026, according to a report from CBS News. Driscoll spoke alongside Eric Schmidt, the former Google CEO who leads Perennial Autonomy, a defense company active in Ukraine. They praised innovations from Kyiv, especially the DELTA software platform used by Ukrainian military leaders to track battlefield activity.
Driscoll, an Iraq War veteran and former venture capitalist, is a longtime friend of Vice President JD Vance from Yale Law School. His resignation from the Army was announced on August 31 after disagreements with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Driscoll stepped down amid disputes over senior officer removals and modernization plans in the Army. The White House did not publicly give a reason for his departure.
He said his decision was to focus on helping Ukraine from outside the U.S. military structure. The U.S. Army has been working on new procurement reforms since January to speed up delivery of weapons to soldiers. This urgency became clear after the war with Iran showed how poorly prepared American forces were against Shahed drones.
Help in defending against these drones came not from major U.S. defense contractors but from Schmidt’s Perennial Autonomy. Schmidt said he was asked to help and agreed immediately. According to CBS News, Perennial quickly supplied 13,000 Merops interceptor drones and 10,000 Bumblebee reconnaissance and strike drones to the U.S. military. The solution found a strong audience among Ukrainian, European, and American officials.
Some say the U.S. Army has distanced itself from learning lessons from Ukraine’s war experience. A unit tasked with studying drone warfare in Ukraine was disbanded by the Army. Two of the unit’s main supporters were former Army Chief of Staff General Randy George and former commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa General Christopher Donahue. CBS News reported that both officers were fired or forced to retire early in 2026.
Driscoll did not comment on the changes in Army leadership. He said his best contribution to global safety was working outside of the U.S. military system at this time.