U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff is holding talks in New York this week with a high-level Ukrainian delegation led by presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak, according to U.S. and Ukrainian officials. The discussions, scheduled to conclude on Friday, focus on security guarantees for Kyiv and on preparing a potential face-to-face meeting between Presidents Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin. Witkoff said on Tuesday that Washington maintains daily contact with Moscow and views the New York meeting as a “big signal” of U.S. commitment to ending the conflict. Ukrainian participants include Defence Minister-designate Rustem Umerov and First Deputy Foreign Minister Sergiy Kyslytsya. The envoy’s outreach follows the mid-August Alaska summit between Trump and Putin and subsequent consultations at the White House with Zelensky. After Thursday’s session, Yermak told reporters that Russia was "clearly prolonging hostile actions" and had refused to commit to another bilateral round with Kyiv, underscoring the fragile state of the negotiations. U.S. officials have warned they could tighten sanctions on Moscow if no progress is made within the next two weeks. More than three years into the full-scale invasion launched in 2022, Russian forces still control roughly 20% of Ukrainian territory.