Ukraine peace talks proceeding constructively: Russia
A Kremlin envoy said peace talks on a proposed US plan to end nearly four years of war in Ukraine were “continuing constructively in Florida”, while the Ukrainian president said those talks were progressing “rapidly”.
The talks are part of months-long peace efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, which also include meetings with Ukrainian and European officials in Berlin earlier this week.
“Discussions are progressing constructively. They started earlier and they will continue today and tomorrow,” Kirill Dmitriev told reporters in Miami on Saturday.
According to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, Dmitriev met with US ambassador Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Last week, Russia launched approximately 1,300 attack aircraft, nearly 1,200 guided aerial bombs and 9 missiles of various types against Ukraine. The Odessa region and our south were particularly hard hit. Our services continue their work to restore normal life in the region… pic.twitter.com/oKsQDOUjD2— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) December 21, 2025
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on Telegram on Sunday that diplomatic efforts “are progressing quite quickly and our team in Florida is working with the American side.”
This comes after Ukraine’s chief negotiator said on Friday that his delegation had completed separate meetings with US and European partners in the United States.
Trump launched a sweeping diplomatic push to end the war, but his efforts ran into starkly conflicting demands from officials in Russia and Ukraine.
The French presidency on Sunday welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s request to meet with President Emmanuel Macron and said it would be decided “in the coming days” how this will proceed.
In the statement made by Macron’s office, “It would be useful to meet with Putin again as soon as the possibility of a ceasefire and peace negotiations becomes clear.” The statement was included.
“The Kremlin’s public acceptance of this approach is welcome.”
The statement came after Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Putin was open to meeting with Macron if there was mutual political will.
Macron’s office said any dialogue would aim to “contribute to a solid and lasting peace for Ukraine and Europe, in full transparency with President Zelenskiy and our European partners.”
European Union leaders agreed on Friday to provide Ukraine with 90 billion euros ($A160 billion) to meet its military and economic needs over the next two years, but failed to bridge differences with Belgium that would allow them to use frozen Russian assets to raise funds.
Instead, it borrowed money from capital markets.
Ukrainian human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets on Sunday accused Russian forces of forcibly removing about 50 Ukrainian civilians from the Ukrainian Sumy border region into Russian territory.
Russian Armed Forces forcibly detained approximately 50 Ukrainian citizens from the Sumy region and deported them to Russian territory. These acts constitute violations of the laws and customs of war, unlawful deprivation of liberty, and forcible deportation of civilians.
Writing on social media, he said Russian forces illegally detained residents of the village of Hrabovske on Thursday and transferred them to Russia on Saturday.
Lubinets said he contacted Russia’s human rights commissioner, asking for information about the civilians’ whereabouts and conditions, and demanding their immediate return to Ukraine.
with DPA
