Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Yevgen Korniychuk says he is encouraged by the current visit to Kyiv by U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
In an interview with ynet on Tuesday, he said he views U.S. President Donald Trump’s diplomatic efforts in the Middle East as part of the same push to bring the Russia-Ukraine war to an end.
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‘The Russian economy has already begun to suffer.’ Ukrainian Ambassador Yevhen Korniychuk
(Photo: Embassy of Ukraine in Israel)
“He is trying to help bring peace to Israel just as he is helping to end the war in our country,” Korniychuk said.
The visit by Witkoff and Kushner marked their first trip to Ukraine since Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Korniychuk said. During that period, Witkoff had traveled to Moscow seven or eight times.
The Kyiv visit included three rounds of talks involving representatives of other European countries, he said, describing the meetings as “very positive.”
Korniychuk cautioned against expecting immediate results, but said the participation of U.S. officials at several levels in the Kyiv talks was itself significant. He also cited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s remarks that the presence of the U.S. envoys contributed to three days without Russian attacks on Kyiv, allowing residents to “sleep a little at night.”
One of the ideas discussed during the talks involved designating uninhabited areas of the Donbas as territory controlled by neither side. Korniychuk said the proposal had received a positive response among Ukrainians and that Kyiv hoped it could contribute to halting the fighting.
Witkoff, Kushner and Zelenskyy in Kyiv
(Photo: Genya Savilov / AFP)
Korniychuk also pointed to Ukraine’s attacks on Russian military infrastructure and oil facilities as part of an effort to increase pressure on Moscow.
He said Zelenskyy’s declared intention to effectively “close” airports in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sochi through Ukrainian operations had already disrupted Russian aviation, including flights operated by airlines from Turkey and Gulf states.
The purpose, he said, is partly to make ordinary Russians feel the consequences of the war and increase domestic pressure to end it. “They are now feeling what we in Ukraine have felt for the past four and a half years,” Korniychuk said.
According to the ambassador, Ukraine’s leadership believes the fighting could stop within the next several months, in part because of deteriorating economic conditions in Russia. He claimed that roughly half of Russia’s oil refineries had been shut down, contributing to shortages of fuel and diesel needed for transportation and for exporting agricultural products through the Black Sea.
Korniychuk said Russia’s ability to keep fighting would depend heavily on whether it can continue financing the war. Even if the fighting stops, however, he believes a ceasefire is more likely than a full peace agreement.
Footage of Ukrainian naval drone striking at Russia’s Sochi port
He also warned that another difficult winter remains possible, with Putin potentially seeking to pressure Ukrainian civilians through renewed attacks on energy infrastructure.
Ukraine is currently facing a shortage of air-defense interceptors, but Korniychuk said the problem could be addressed with supplies from European countries. He said Witkoff and Kushner’s visit to Kyiv included discussions of a possible “winter package” of Patriot systems, as U.S. production expands.
France and Italy are also helping subsidize alternative systems, he said, while Ukraine has received European funding to develop its own interceptors.
“I can’t say I see the light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to a final end to the war, but our leaders believe the fighting could stop within the coming months and that this may be its last winter,” he said. “Personally, I believe it will stop if Russia can no longer afford to finance it. The Russian economy is already beginning to suffer.”