US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff delivers a press conference upon the signing of the declaration on deploying post-ceasefire force in Ukraine, during the so-called 'Coalition of the Willing' summit, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, 6 January 2026;
Credit: Ludovic Marin/Pool via Reuters/File Photo
DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - On Thursday 22 January 2026, the US envoy Steve Witkoff said "a lot of progress" had been made in Ukraine peace talks and that negotiations were down to one last issue.
The United States has held talks with Russia, and separately with Kyiv and European leaders, on various different drafts of a plan for ending the war in Ukraine, but no deal has yet been reached despite Trump's repeated promises to clinch one.
"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," he added.
US President Donald Trump a day earlier told the Davos forum that the leaders of Russia and Ukraine would be "stupid" if they failed to come together and get a deal done.
Witkoff said he was headed to Moscow later in the day. He spoke in an impromptu appearance at a breakfast meeting on the future of Ukraine, with panelists including NATO Secretary Mark Rutte and Finnish President Alexander Stubb.
Rutte expressed confidence that Trump was committed to Ukrainian independence and sovereignty. "I have never doubted this," Rutte said.
"What we need is to keep our eyes on the ball of Ukraine. Let's not drop that ball," he added.
