US negotiators are set to meet with Russian officials in Florida as part of the latest round of talks aimed at ending Russia's war in Ukraine, as the administration of US President Donald Trump tries to get both sides to agree to a deal to end the conflict.
The meeting in Miami followed talks the United States held with Ukrainian and European officials on Friday, as part of the latest discussions on a peace plan that has raised some hope for a resolution to the conflict that began with Russia's all-out invasion in February 2022.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's special envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, has arrived in Miami and is headed for talks with US envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, a Russian source told Reuters.
Marco Rubio, Trump's top diplomat and national security adviser, previously said he might join the talks.
Previous meetings were held at the Witkoff Golf Club, near Miami.
US, Ukrainian and European officials said earlier this week that progress had been made on security guarantees for Kiev as part of talks to end the war, but it was not yet clear whether those terms would be acceptable to Moscow.
A Russian source told Reuters that any meeting between Dmitriev and Ukrainian negotiators had been ruled out.
In Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine would support a US proposal for trilateral talks with the United States and Russia if it would facilitate additional prisoner exchanges and pave the way for meetings between state leaders.
"America is now proposing a trilateral meeting of national security advisers - America, Ukraine, Russia," Zelensky told local reporters in Kyiv.
Putin offers no compromise
US intelligence reports continue to warn that Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to take over all of Ukraine, sources familiar with the assessments said, contradicting claims by some US officials that Moscow is ready for peace, Reuters reports.
Putin offered no compromise during his annual press conference in Moscow, insisting that Russia's conditions for ending the war had not changed since June 2024, when he demanded that Ukraine abandon its ambition to join NATO and completely withdraw from four Ukrainian regions that Russia considers its territory.
Kiev says it will not cede territories that Russian forces failed to conquer during nearly four years of war.
Chief Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov said the US and European teams held talks on Friday and agreed to continue joint efforts.
"We have agreed with our American partners on further steps and the continuation of joint work in the near future," Umerov wrote on Telegram, adding that he had informed Zelensky about the outcome of the talks in the United States.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
Rubio told reporters on Friday that progress had been made in talks to end the war, but that there was still work to be done.
"The role we're trying to play is to determine if there's any overlap that we can agree on, and we've put a lot of time and energy into that and we continue to do that. It may not be possible. I hope it will be. I hope it can be completed this month, before the end of the year," Rubio said.
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