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A Kremlin representative will travel to Florida this weekend for talks on ending the Ukraine war, as the Trump administration intensifies diplomatic efforts to broker a peace agreement amid deeply divided positions from the warring parties.
Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, is scheduled to meet with President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner in Miami on Saturday, according to a U.S. official who spoke anonymously about the yet-unannounced meeting.
The Miami talks follow recent discussions in Berlin where Witkoff and Kushner met with Ukrainian and European officials. Those meetings focused on key elements of an American-authored peace proposal, including U.S. security guarantees for Ukraine and potential territorial concessions.
When questioned about the upcoming Miami meeting, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed Thursday that Moscow was preparing for contacts with U.S. officials to learn about the Berlin talks’ outcomes, without providing further details.
The Trump administration has launched an ambitious diplomatic initiative to end the conflict that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. However, these efforts face significant challenges due to the stark differences between Moscow’s and Kyiv’s positions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a warning on Wednesday that Russia would seek to expand its territorial gains in Ukraine if Kyiv and Western allies reject Moscow’s demands in peace negotiations. These demands are extensive—Putin insists that all territories in four key regions currently under Russian control, along with Crimea (which Russia illegally annexed in 2014), must be recognized as Russian territory.
Putin has gone further, demanding that Ukraine withdraw from areas in eastern Ukraine that Russian forces haven’t yet captured. The Kremlin also insists that Ukraine abandon its NATO membership aspirations and has warned that Moscow would consider any NATO troops deployed to Ukraine as legitimate military targets.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, addressing questions Thursday about whether he was reconsidering Ukraine’s NATO ambitions, maintained that the country’s position “remains unchanged.” While acknowledging that the United States doesn’t currently support Ukraine’s NATO membership, Zelenskyy noted that “politicians change.”
Zelenskyy revealed that Ukrainian officials were expected to hold negotiations in the United States on Friday or Saturday. “We have progress in our dialogue with the American side regarding some of our points; they also speak with the Russian side,” Zelenskyy said during his visit to Brussels.
The Ukrainian leader was in the Belgian capital as European Union leaders prepared to decide on using tens of billions of euros in frozen Russian assets to finance a loan supporting Ukraine’s military and financial needs over the next two years. This potential funding mechanism represents a critical lifeline for Ukraine as the war approaches its third year.
“We are in the war, and the United States are decision-makers who can really stop Putin, and I count on this,” Zelenskyy emphasized. “I really count on pressure from the United States. Putin does not want to stop this war, but he can if the United States will pressure more.”
While diplomatic efforts continue, the conflict rages on. Overnight, Russia launched 82 drones of various types at Ukraine, 63 of which were intercepted or jammed, according to Ukraine’s air force. In Cherkasy, Russian drone strikes targeting critical infrastructure wounded six people and caused power outages. Additional Russian drone attacks wounded four people in Kryvyi Rih and seven near Odesa.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian drone strikes in Russia’s Rostov region killed three people overnight, including two crew members of a cargo ship hit in Rostov-on-Don and a man in Bataysk. At least ten others were wounded, local Russian officials reported. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed its air defenses intercepted 47 Ukrainian drones during the overnight attacks.
The intensifying diplomatic activity comes as both sides continue to sustain casualties and infrastructure damage in a war that has devastated large portions of Ukraine and created Europe’s largest refugee crisis since World War II.
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11 Comments
Interesting that the Kremlin is willing to engage with the US on a peace plan for Ukraine. It will be important to see what concessions each side is willing to make to reach a sustainable agreement.
Agreed, the talks in Miami could be a pivotal moment in the Ukraine conflict if both sides approach them in good faith.
The Trump administration’s push for a peace deal in Ukraine is intriguing, though I wonder how it will be received by the Ukrainian government and its Western allies.
That’s a good point. Ukraine will likely want to maintain its sovereignty and territorial integrity, so any US-led proposal will need to carefully balance those concerns.
The Trump administration seems intent on brokering a peace deal, even as the war rages on. I wonder how the Ukrainian government will respond to any US-led proposals.
Ukraine will likely want to maintain its territorial integrity, so it will be a delicate balance to strike between their demands and Russian concessions.
This meeting in Miami is an important diplomatic development, but I remain skeptical that the warring parties can come to a lasting agreement given the complexities of the conflict.
You raise a fair point. The divisions between Russia and Ukraine run deep, and previous ceasefires have quickly broken down. Sustained peace will be difficult to achieve.
It’s encouraging to see the US taking an active role in trying to broker peace in Ukraine. Diplomatic solutions are always preferable to continued fighting, if possible.
I agree, but the devil will be in the details. Any peace plan will need to address the core grievances of both sides to have a chance of success.
The upcoming talks in Miami present an opportunity for progress, but the deep divisions between Russia and Ukraine make me skeptical that a lasting peace can be achieved.