Trump’s latest attempt to open a path toward peace in Ukraine is unfolding under the worst possible conditions: negotiators are preparing to travel between Moscow and Kyiv while both sides intensify attacks from the air.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented the planned visits by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner as a serious diplomatic opportunity. He said tentative dates had been set, with meetings expected in both capitals, and described the Kyiv visit as “very important.”¹ The emphasis from Kyiv is on access and substantive talks, suggesting Ukraine wants to demonstrate cooperation without accepting a pause on its broader security demands.

The more skeptical picture comes from the battlefield. Zelenskyy offered to guarantee the safety of Russian airspace during the envoys’ visit and called on Moscow to halt its own air attacks. But a Russian drone struck the headquarters of Ukraine’s SBU intelligence agency, injuring at least nine people, while attacks on Odesa, Kyiv and Dnipro caused further casualties. Zelenskyy called the SBU strike a deliberate escalation and promised an “appropriate, tangible response.”²

The contrast is stark: Washington is promoting the mission as a new opening, while Kyiv is seeking a temporary reduction in attacks and Russia shows no sign, in the cited reporting, of accepting that framework. Ukraine’s retaliatory drone campaign is also disrupting the diplomatic environment. Air Tanzania suspended flights between Dar es Salaam and Moscow after Kyiv warned that Russian airspace had become unsafe, while strikes reportedly hit oil facilities near Sochi.

The two perspectives nevertheless overlap on one point: neither side is treating the negotiations as a substitute for pressure. Trump says he has sent “two great negotiators,” but the continuing attacks, threats to civilian infrastructure and international concern over humanitarian facilities reveal the central weakness of the effort. Diplomacy may be moving, yet the war is moving faster.