Witkoff says Ukraine talks narrowed to one solvable issue after Davos

Steve Witkoff told audiences at the World Economic Forum in Davos that negotiators have made “a lot of progress” toward a framework to end the Russia-Ukraine war and that talks are “down to one issue,” which he called “solvable” if both sides want a settlement. “We are at the end now. I'm actually optimistic,” Witkoff said on Jan. 22 in Davos. “I think we’ve got it down to one issue, and we have discussed iterations of that issue, and that means it’s solvable,” he added, though he declined to identify the remaining sticking point.

Witkoff framed the current phase as the product of repeated direct engagement after earlier confusion in the diplomatic process. He said sustained, in-person diplomacy had been necessary to close gaps that remote discussions left open. That approach underpins an immediate travel schedule that moves the negotiating track from Switzerland to Moscow and then to the Gulf. Witkoff planned to depart Davos for Moscow later on Jan. 22 and was scheduled to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin; Jared Kushner was reported to be traveling with the envoy. Contacts on a settlement are expected to continue at the working-group level in Abu Dhabi following the Moscow visit.

The Davos exchanges took place as U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy were due to meet at the forum, part of a broader diplomatic rhythm that has included talks in Miami earlier this month and a round in Geneva last November. U.S. and Ukrainian delegations met in Miami on Jan. 17–18 where discussions reportedly included economic assistance proposals as large as $800 billion, a figure that has not been broken down or formally committed. Ukraine’s Davos delegation, led by Rustem Umerov, focused on economic development, post-war recovery and security guarantees in meetings with Witkoff.

The tenor of Witkoff’s optimism contrasts with more cautious public remarks from President Trump, who has suggested that deals often falter because one side will not follow through. “What happens is, oftentimes we'll have a deal with Russia, Russia's set, and President Zelenskyy will not do it… And then, we'll have President Zelenskyy wants to make a deal and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin doesn't want to make a deal,” Trump said in comments circulated around the forum.

Several key questions remain. Neither Witkoff nor other participants have publicly identified the so-called last issue, leaving open whether it concerns territorial arrangements, security guarantees, enforcement mechanisms, timeline and sequencing of withdrawals, or economic and reconstruction obligations. It is also unclear whether agreements on air defense, weaponry, or financial aid discussed in Davos will be finalized or conditioned on parallel diplomatic steps.

Complicating the technical diplomacy, leaked recordings reported in open sources allege that Witkoff coached Russian officials on framing war aims as peace terms for presentation to President Trump; the recordings’ authenticity and implications have not been independently confirmed. That claim adds a political layer that could affect trust among parties and audiences across Kyiv, Moscow and Washington.

Any breakthrough would hinge not only on technical concessions but on domestic political calculations in each capital and the capacity of international guarantors to monitor compliance. The next 48 to 72 hours, as the envoy moves to Moscow and Abu Dhabi working groups convene, will be pivotal in testing whether Davos momentum can be converted into a durable, enforceable settlement or whether the final issue proves to be a deeper fault line than negotiators now acknowledge.