US and Ukrainian negotiators to discuss drone deal
US and Ukrainian negotiators will hold talks in Miami, which could lay the groundwork for another meeting between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a source said.
Zelenskiy told reporters that at Saturday’s meeting, U.S. and Ukrainian working groups will focus on bilateral documents and discuss a broad drone agreement.
Ukraine, seeking to benefit from its expertise in defending against Russian drone attacks, is working to finalize agreements with eight Middle Eastern countries at a time when the US-Israeli war with Iran is escalating, a source familiar with the matter said.
Zelenskiy told reporters that Ukraine had deployed 228 experts to help Middle Eastern countries with drone defense and was working to sign “serious agreements” with Middle Eastern leaders, but did not provide details.
The talks in Miami were initially planned to include Russian negotiators and be held in Abu Dhabi, focusing on finding a solution to the four-year war sparked by Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The trilateral meeting in the United Arab Emirates was postponed after the Iran conflict broke out on February 28.
The White House had no comment about the weekend meeting.
The US negotiating team will be led by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, the source said.
Zelenskiy told reporters that he would send Ukraine’s chief of staff Kyrylo Budanov and his deputy Serhiy Kyslytsia, as well as the head of his parliamentary group, Davyd Arakhamia.
Ukraine and Russia held two series of US-brokered talks in the UAE this year and a tour in Geneva last month.
The source said Ukraine had expressed serious concerns to US officials about Russia’s moves to temporarily lift sanctions on oil sales due to the rise in oil prices during the Iran war, noting that Russia earned an extra US$10 billion ($A14 billion) in the first weeks of the conflict.
The source said Ukraine was keen to continue buying US arms despite the superpower’s focus on the Middle East and what it saw as a “moment of complete uncertainty”.
“There were some disruptions at the beginning of the (Iranian) operation, but these have subsided and we have not seen any significant decisions on reusing existing stocks or suspending supplies,” the source said.
The source said that Ukraine has long wanted more PAC-3 missiles for Patriot defense systems and that these missiles are insufficient.
US and Ukrainian officials will meet again in Kiev next week for the third meeting of the US-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund, which aims to approve its first joint investment project by the end of March.
