Ukrainian and US officials meet in Florida to discuss proposals to end Russia’s war | Ukraine
Ukrainian negotiators are meeting with US officials in Florida to discuss details of Washington’s proposed framework for ending Russia’s war in Ukraine as Kiev faces pressure on military and political fronts.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner sit with a Ukrainian delegation on Sunday ahead of U.S. talks with Vladimir Putin scheduled for this week in Moscow.
Rustem Umerov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine. posted a photo He stated that the meeting on X focused on “steps towards achieving a just peace.”
At least six people were killed and dozens injured across Ukraine over the weekend. One person was killed and 11 others were injured in a drone attack on the outskirts of Kiev on Saturday night, the regional governor said.
A Ukrainian security source said Kiev was responsible for attacks on two oil tankers off Türkiye’s Black Sea coast by maritime drones believed to be secretly transporting sanctioned Russian oil.
The talks will focus on details of a draft framework for ending the war, more than three years after Russian forces begin a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The United States withdrew the first draft after criticism from Kiev and Europe that it was too positive towards Russia, but the content of the final proposals remains unclear. Witkoff, a New York real estate developer turned Trump official, is expected to travel to Moscow next week.
The original 28-point US-Russia plan was drawn up last month by Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev and Witkoff. He called on Ukraine to withdraw from cities it controls in the eastern Donbas region, limit the size of its army and not join NATO. Washington’s original proposal – drafted without input from Ukraine’s European allies – involved Kiev withdrawing from the eastern Donetsk region and US de facto recognition of Donetsk, Crimea and Luhansk as Russia.
The plan was significantly revised during talks led by Rubio and Ukrainian negotiators in Switzerland last weekend. Kyiv and its European partners say the current frontline should be the starting point for regional discussions. They say that territory seized militarily by Russia cannot be recognized and that Kiev must make its own decisions about whether to join the EU and NATO; The Kremlin wants to veto this or impose conditions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he expects the results of the recent meetings with the USA in Geneva to be “determined”.
The US talks took place during a turbulent time for the Ukrainian government. Zelenskyy’s powerful private secretary, Andriy Yermak, was forced to resign on Friday after his office was searched by anti-corruption authorities investigating a kickback scheme.
Yermak was the chief negotiator of the talks with the United States. Zelenskyy said that the Ukrainian delegation in Florida included the head of the Ukrainian armed forces Andrii Hnatov, foreign minister Andrii Sybiha and security council chairman Rustem Umerov.
Ukraine faces serious pressure from Washington to accept the terms of the deal, while Zelenskyy faces increasing difficulty. Russia is making increasing gains on the front lines, and Ukrainian cities suffer hours of power outages every day due to constant bombardment of the power grid.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine was going through one of the most difficult moments in its history, but last week he made a dramatic speech and promised his people that he would not betray the country.
Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Kingdom and former commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, is seen as a potential rival for the future presidency. wrote in the Telegraph: “We are in an extremely difficult situation where a hasty peace will only lead to a devastating defeat and loss of independence.”
He said “effective security guarantees” were necessary for any framework.
French President Emmanuel Macron will meet Zelenskyy in Paris on Monday. “Peace is at hand if Vladimir Putin abandons his illusory hope of restoring the Soviet empire, first of all by subjugating Ukraine,” French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot told La Tribune Dimanche.
Barrot said: “Vladimir Putin must accept a ceasefire or accept an intensification of European support for Ukraine, as well as subjecting Russia to new sanctions that will deplete its economy.”
