U.S. and Russian officials were expected to hold another round of discussions in Florida on Saturday as Washington continues efforts to broker an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine under President Donald Trump’s administration.
The talks in Miami come a day after meetings between U.S., Ukrainian and European officials, part of ongoing negotiations around a peace framework that has raised cautious optimism more than two years after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s investment envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, arrived in Miami for discussions with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, according to a Russian source. Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio indicated he could also take part. Some earlier meetings have reportedly been held at Witkoff’s golf club in Hallandale Beach.
Officials from the United States, Ukraine and Europe said earlier this week that progress had been made on possible security guarantees for Kyiv, though it remains uncertain whether Moscow would accept those terms. A Russian source said there would be no direct meeting between Dmitriev and Ukrainian negotiators.
Speaking in Kyiv on Saturday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine would support a U.S. proposal for three-sided talks involving Washington and Moscow if it helped advance prisoner exchanges and opened the door to leader-level meetings.
“America is now proposing a trilateral meeting with national security advisers — America Ukraine, Russia,” Zelenskyy told local journalists in Kyiv.
Despite diplomatic efforts, U.S. intelligence assessments continue to warn that Putin aims to take control of all of Ukraine, contradicting suggestions that Russia is ready to compromise. Putin reiterated in Moscow that his conditions for ending the war remain unchanged, including Ukraine abandoning NATO aspirations and withdrawing from four regions claimed by Russia.
Ukraine has rejected ceding territory still under its control. Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov said U.S. and European teams agreed to continue joint efforts. Rubio said progress has been made but acknowledged challenges remain.
“The role we’re trying to play is a role of figuring out whether there’s any overlap here that they can agree to, and that’s what we’ve invested a lot of time and energy and continue to do so. That may not be possible. I hope it is. I hope it can get done this month before the end of the year.”
