Us negotiators are set to meet russian officials in florida on saturday for talks aimed at ending russia’s war in ukraine. This follows discussions on friday with ukrainian and european officials as president donald trump’s administration seeks an agreement. Progress has been reported on security guarantees for kyiv, though moscow’s stance remains uncertain.
The upcoming meeting in florida marks another step in efforts to resolve the conflict that began with russia’s full-scale invasion of ukraine in february 2022. Us property tycoon-turned-diplomat steve witkoff and jared kushner, trump’s son-in-law, will engage with kirill dmitriev, president vladimir putin’s envoy leading the russian delegation. Marco rubio, trump’s top diplomat and national security advisor, indicated he may join the talks, which have previously occurred at witkoff’s golf club in miami’s hallandale beach.
Earlier this week, us, ukrainian, and european officials discussed security guarantees for kyiv as part of a potential peace plan. Ukraine’s top negotiator, rustem umerov, stated after friday’s talks with us and european teams: “We agreed with our american partners on further steps and on continuing our joint work in the near future.” He added that he had informed president volodymyr zelenskyy of the outcomes.
However, challenges persist. A russian source indicated that any direct meeting between dmitriev and ukrainian negotiators is ruled out. Us intelligence suggests putin aims to capture all of ukraine, contradicting hopes for moscow’s readiness for peace. During his annual press conference, putin reiterated russia’s unchanged terms from june 2024, demanding ukraine abandon nato ambitions and withdraw from four regions russia claims.
Kyiv has firmly rejected ceding land not captured by moscow’s forces after nearly four years of war. Rubio emphasized the us role: “In the end, it’s up to them to make a deal. We can’t force ukraine to make a deal. We can’t force russia to make a deal. They have to want to make a deal.” He expressed hope for an agreement before year-end, noting ongoing investments in finding common ground.