US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Alexander Kazakov | AFP | Getty Images
U.S. negotiators are scheduled to meet with Russian officials in Florida on Saturday for the latest round of talks aimed at ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, as President Donald Trump’s administration seeks to extract an agreement from both Russia and Ukraine to end the conflict.
The talks follow Friday’s talks between the United States and Ukrainian and European officials, the latest round of talks on a peace plan, raising hopes that the conflict, which began when Russia launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022, will be resolved.
President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev is leading a Russian delegation that will meet with real estate tycoon-turned-diplomat Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. President Trump’s top diplomat and national security adviser, Marco Rubio, said he may also participate in the talks.
Previous meetings were held at Witkoff’s Golf Club in Hallandale Beach, Miami.
U.S., Ukrainian and European officials earlier this week reported progress on security in Kiev as part of talks to end the war, but it remains unclear whether the terms will be accepted by Russia.
Russian sources told Reuters that any talks between Dmitriev and Ukrainian negotiators had been ruled out.
President Putin refuses to make any compromises
A U.S. intelligence report continues to warn that Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to occupy all of Ukraine, a person familiar with the intelligence community said, contradicting claims by some U.S. officials that Russia is ready for peace.
Putin made no compromises at his annual press conference in Moscow, insisting that Russia’s terms for ending the war have remained unchanged since June 2024 and calling on Ukraine to abandon its ambitions to join NATO and completely withdraw from four regions of Ukraine that Russia claims as its own.
Kiev has said it has no intention of ceding land that Moscow’s forces have been unable to capture in nearly four years of war.
Ukraine’s chief negotiator Rustem Umerov said the U.S. and European teams held talks on Friday and agreed to move forward with joint efforts.
“We have agreed with our American partners on further measures and continued collaboration in the near future,” Umerov wrote on Telegram about the US talks, adding that he had informed President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of the results of the talks.
The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
Rubio told reporters early Friday that progress has been made in discussions to end the war, but there is still a way to go.
“At the end of the day, it’s up to them to get a deal. You can’t force Ukraine to get a deal, you can’t force Russia to get a deal. They want a deal,” Rubio said.
“The role we’re trying to play is to see if there’s some overlap here that they can agree on, and that’s what we’re investing a lot of time and energy into and continuing to do. It may not be possible, but we hope so. We hope to be able to get it done this month before the end of the year.” The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rubio told reporters early Friday that progress has been made in discussions to end the war, but there is still a way to go.
“At the end of the day, it’s up to them to get a deal. You can’t force Ukraine to get a deal, you can’t force Russia to get a deal. They want a deal,” Rubio said.
“The role we’re trying to play is to determine if there’s any overlap here that they can agree on, and that’s what we’ve invested a lot of time and energy into and continue to do. It may not be possible, but I hope so. I hope we can get it done this month before the end of the year.”
