The meeting took place just a day before the second round of US-mediated talks between Russia and Ukraine was held in Abu Dhabi.
Published January 31, 2026
U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said he had “productive and constructive talks” with Russian Special Envoy Kirill Dmitriev in Florida, as President Donald Trump’s administration presses for an end to Russia’s nearly four-year war in Ukraine.
“I am encouraged by this meeting that Russia is working towards ensuring peace in Ukraine,” Witkov wrote in a post on X after Saturday’s meeting.
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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and White House Chief of Staff Josh Gruenbaum also attended the meeting.
The meeting came a day before Ukrainian and Russian negotiators were scheduled to hold a second round of talks with a US mediator in Abu Dhabi to discuss a US-backed plan to end the war in Russia.
The first US-mediated meeting was held in the United Arab Emirates capital last week, marking the first public direct negotiations between Moscow and Kiev since the early weeks of the conflict.
President Trump told reporters in the Oval Office this week that he believed he was “closer” to a deal to end the war.
President Trump announced Thursday that he had agreed to a request from Russian President Vladimir Putin not to attack Ukraine’s energy infrastructure for a week in the extreme cold, calling it a “very good move” from the Russian president.
The Kremlin confirmed on Friday that Putin had received the request, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov telling Sky News that Putin “of course” agreed to the proposal.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote to X that the issue of a ceasefire over attacks on energy infrastructure was discussed during last week’s talks and he hopes that an agreement will be implemented. “Detente measures contribute to real progress towards ending the war,” he added.
On Friday, the Ukrainian leader said in an evening address that neither Moscow nor Kiev had carried out strikes against energy targets since Thursday night.
Several deadlocks remain over the U.S.-backed plan to end the war, including Russia’s demands to withdraw Ukrainian troops from about a fifth of the Donetsk region and the possibility of sending international peacekeeping forces to post-war Ukraine.
