FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy shake hands during a press conference after their lunch meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club, in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., December 28, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo
KYIV, Jan 22 (Reuters) - U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff on Thursday said "a lot of progress" had been made in Ukraine peace talks and that negotiations were down to one last issue, as Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrived in Switzerland for talks with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Zelenskiy had said earlier this week that he would not attend the annual World Economic Forum in Davos and would remain in Kyiv to focus on the energy crisis in Ukraine, where Russian airstrikes against electricity infrastructure have left swathes of the capital and other regions without power.
The Ukrainian leader had said he would only travel to Davos if there was the opportunity to sign an agreement with Trump on resolving the nearly four-year war that included security guarantees and post-war reconstruction funding for Ukraine. On Wednesday, Trump announced he would meet Zelenskiy in Davos, adding that a deal was "reasonably close".
Zelenskiy's spokesperson said in a statement that the Ukrainian leader had arrived in Switzerland on Thursday and would meet with Trump at 1 p.m. (1200 GMT) before delivering a speech at 2:30 p.m. (1330 GMT).
"If both sides want to solve this, we're going to get it solved," Witkoff told an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos. "I think we've made a lot of progress."
TALKS WITH PUTIN IN MOSCOW
Witkoff has held talks in recent days with Ukrainian officials in Davos, following weekend discussions in Florida.He was due in Moscow with fellow U.S. envoy Jared Kushner - Trump's son-in-law - later on Thursday for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the possible plan to end the conflict, Europe's deadliest since World War Two.
Putin said late on Wednesday that they would discuss a settlement on Ukraineandthe possibility of using frozen Russian assets overseas for reconstruction, as well as Trump's proposal for a Board of Peace, tasked with promoting peace around the world. Critics of the proposal have said it would rival or undermine the United Nations.
The Kremlin said Putin's meeting with Witkoff and Kushner will take place after 7 to 8 p.m. Moscow time (1600 to 1700 GMT). It declined to comment on Witkoff's stated optimism that a deal was close but said it appreciated his diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
Ukraine's international bonds rallied more than 2 cents on Thursday as the bout of high-level diplomatic meetings lifted hopes in financial markets that progress could be made towards ending the war.
Asked in Davos when he would come to Ukraine, Witkoff said "soon", without providing any timeframe, according to a video posted by Ukrainianmedia outlet Novyny.LIVE.
Russian airstrikes hit several parts of Ukraine on Thursday. In the southern region of Odesa, a 17-year-old man was killed when a drone struck an apartment building, the regional governor said.
(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa; Writing by Daniel Flynn; Editing by Dan Peleschuk and Ros Russell)
