Russia-Ukraine peace talks ‘down to one issue’, says US envoy Steve Witkoff at Davos 2026

US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Thursday that “a lot of progress” has been made in Russia-Ukraine peace talks and that just one sticking point was remaining in the negotiations. The statement came ahead of the arrival of Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky in Switzerland for talks with Trump.

“I think we’ve got it down to one issue, and we have discussed iterations of that issue, and that means it’s solvable,” Witkoff told an audience at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the Swiss city of Davos on Thursday.

“If both sides want to solve this, we’re going to get it solved,” he said.

The US envoy also shared that he was headed to the Russian capital, Moscow, later in the day with Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Witkoff said they would not stay in Moscow overnight but would fly to Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital, where talks would continue in “military to military” working groups.

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Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow appreciates Witkoff’s diplomatic efforts to end the war but declined to comment on his ⁠ optimism that a peace deal was close.

Earlier this week, the Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin would meet Witkoff during the visit.

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Trump and Zelensky to meet at Davos on Thursday

Meanwhile, Trump and Zelensky were due to meet at Davos on Thursday. Zelensky’s spokesman, Sergii Nykyforov, told journalists the president had arrived in Davos and was scheduled to address the WEF after meeting Trump.

Earlier this week, Zelensky had said that he would travel to Davos only if there was the probability to sign an agreement with Trump on resolving the war, including security guarantees and post-war reconstruction funding for Ukraine.

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While Witkoff did not share details of the single remaining issue, Zelensky said in December that two main unresolved issues were the long-term fate of territory captured by Russia and the areas it is still demanding, and the control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is under Russian occupation.

After delivering his speech at the Davos Summit on Wednesday, Trump made his oft-repeated claim that Putin and Zelensky were close to a deal. “I believe they’re at a point now where they can come together and get a deal done. And if they don’t, they’re stupid—that goes for both of them,” he said.

The United States has been holding talks separately with Russia, Kyiv, and European leaders, on different drafts of plan for ending the war in Ukraine.