US believes Russia, Ukraine want to find way to settle conflict — Kushner

WASHINGTON, September 13. /TASS/. Washington believes that Moscow and Kiev are committed to finding a way out of the Ukraine conflict, US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner said.

"We are very committed to trying to find a way forward [to settle the conflict] and President Trump is very committed to this. [US Presidential Special Envoy] Steve [Witkoff] and I are very committed to this. President [Vladimir] Zelensky is very committed to this, from what we've seen, and from what we heard, President [Vladimir] Putin is very committed to this as well. We have to find the right formula that hopefully works for everyone to advance it forward," Kushner said via video link at a conference of the so-called Yalta European Strategy in Kiev.

Kushner noted that, in his view, peace agreements and any other political deals have two important components: in addition to thorough preparatory work on a deal, it is necessary to be able to seize the right moment to conclude it. "You have to have done the detailed consultation with the parties, create the place of what the deal will look like, and then you need to create the momentum or find the momentum," he said. According to Trump's son-in-law, if the right moment arrives before the parties have done all the necessary work, a deal will not be possible. "If and if you do the work, but you don't get the momentum, you don't find the opening and you don't get it done," he added.

Kushner and Witkoff visited Moscow on September 5, where they were received by Putin. The following day, they met with Zelensky in Kiev. Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov said that Putin and Trump held a telephone conversation on September 8.

Russia has repeatedly reaffirmed its commitment to resolving the Ukraine crisis through diplomatic means, while maintaining that the Kiev authorities are not prepared to settle the conflict through negotiations.