US envoy Steve Witkoff to meet Ukraine national security chief in Miami | Ukraine
U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff will meet the head of Ukraine’s national security council, Rustam Umerov, in Miami on Thursday as Washington steps up diplomatic efforts to secure a path to peace in Ukraine.
Witkoff, along with Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, met with Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin for nearly five hours on Tuesday. Moscow later said the meeting did not bring the parties any closer to a peace agreement.
Trump on Wednesday described the talks in Moscow as “pretty good” but acknowledged that the path forward for Ukraine peace talks remains unclear.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump said Putin wanted to make a deal, but “I can’t tell you what will come out of this meeting because it takes two to tango.” The president said the United States “worked out pretty well” with Ukraine.
Putin struck an aggressive tone on Thursday, telling India Today that Russia would seize full control of Eastern Donbas by force unless Ukrainian troops withdraw; Kyiv categorically rejected this request.
In his statement before his visit to Delhi, Putin said, “Either we liberate these regions by force of arms, or Ukrainian soldiers leave these regions.”
He described the negotiations as a “complex exercise,” noting that Moscow had refused to accept parts of the latest U.S. peace offer on Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has refused to give up the territory he currently holds and said on Wednesday that his team was preparing for meetings in the United States and that dialogue with Trump’s representatives would continue.
“An honorable peace is only possible by taking Ukraine’s interests into account,” he said.
Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha took a harsher stance, calling on Putin to “stop wasting the world’s time.”
Meanwhile, the leaked transcript of a high-level call published by Der Spiegel appears to reveal deep concern and distrust among European leaders about Washington’s role in the negotiations.
It was reported that French President Emmanuel Macron was also present at the meeting on Monday; German Chancellor Friedrich Merz; NATO secretary general Mark Rutte; and Finnish president Alexander Stubb, as well as Zelenskyy and others. According to the transcript, some participants expressed fears that the United States might abandon Ukraine at a critical moment.
Macron warned of a “great danger” for Zelenskyy if Kiev is exposed and said, “Without providing clarity on security guarantees, there is a possibility that the United States will betray Ukraine on the territorial issue.”
Merz called on Zelenskyy to be “extremely careful in the coming days,” adding: “They are playing games with both you and us.” The statement apparently referred to Witkoff and Kushner, who held closed-door talks with Putin on Tuesday.
Finland’s Stubb appeared to support Merz’s assessment. “We cannot leave Ukraine and Volodymyr alone with these guys,” he said, in what appeared to be another sharp reference to Witkoff and Kushner.
The call appears to be the second high-profile leak in recent days after Bloomberg published transcripts of two intercepted calls, one between Witkoff and senior Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, the other between Ushakov and Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev.
Moscow has sought in recent weeks to drive distance between Washington and European capitals in an attempt to diplomatically isolate Ukraine and keep Europe out of any future deals.
Putin on Tuesday accused European powers of trying to sink the peace talks by putting forward ideas completely unacceptable to Moscow, and also threatened that Russia was ready for war if it started a war with Europe.
Ukraine and its European allies have accused Putin of feigning interest in peace efforts, while British foreign secretary Yvette Cooper said on Wednesday that Russia must “put an end to the display and bloodshed and be ready to come to the table and support a just and lasting peace.”
Estonian foreign minister Margus Tsahkna told a meeting of European NATO foreign ministers: “What we see is that Putin is not changing any course. He is pressing more aggressively on the battlefield. It is quite clear that he does not want to have any peace.”
Rutte said Ukraine’s partners would continue to provide military assistance to ensure pressure was maintained on Moscow.
The European Commission on Wednesday announced it would press ahead with controversial plans to fund Ukraine with a loan based on Russian frozen assets. Conceding to concerns raised by Belgium, which hosts most of the assets, the EU leadership has also proposed the option of an EU loan based on joint borrowing.
EU leaders will be asked to decide on options later this month as Ukraine faces a looming funding crunch.
Elsewhere on Wednesday, the UN general assembly called for the immediate and unconditional return of Ukrainian children “forcibly transferred” to Russia. Ukraine has accused Russia of kidnapping at least 20,000 Ukrainian children since the conflict began in February 2022.
The parliament adopted the non-binding resolution by a vote of 91 to 12, with 57 abstentions. Russia was among the countries that rejected the measure.
With Reuters, Associated Press and France-Presse Agency
