Key points
- Zelensky warns of ongoing war preparations
- Disagreements persist over Ukraine’s territorial concessions
- Putin confident of achieving war objectives
WASHINGTON, United States: US and Russian officials will meet in Miami this weekend for new talks on President Donald Trump’s plan for ending the Ukraine war, a White House official told the media.
The talks come after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed progress during two days of meetings in Berlin between Kyiv and Trump’s envoys, while warning that Moscow was preparing for a “new year of war.”
Trump’s roving envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner are expected to take part on the US side, while Putin’s economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev is set to be in the Russian delegation, Politico reported.
The White House official did not give details of the US and Russian teams.
There has been a flurry of international diplomacy in recent weeks to end Russia’s nearly four-year-old invasion, with Witkoff and Kushner having met Putin in the Kremlin in November and the Ukrainians and European leaders in Berlin, according to AFP.
But large differences remain all around.
Security guarantees for Kyiv
Ukraine and the United States say there has been progress on the question of future security guarantees for Kyiv, but there are disagreements on what territory Ukraine would have to cede.
Putin, meanwhile, said on Wednesday that Moscow would “certainly” achieve its objectives in the war, including seizing the territories it claims are its own.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump said efforts to end the war in Ukraine are closer to a breakthrough than at any point since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, following what he described as extensive talks with Ukrainian, Russian, and European leaders.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said discussions with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and several European heads of government had been “very long and very good,” raising hopes of a negotiated settlement.
He added that he had also held multiple conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and believed both sides were seeking an end to the conflict, despite persistent challenges in aligning their positions.
