Ukraine and US to hold new talks in Miami, says Kyiv official

Kyiv, Ukraine - Ukrainian negotiators and US officials will hold fresh talks on Washington's plan to end Russia's invasion at a meeting in Miami on Friday, a Kyiv official told AFP.

(L/R) White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Jared Kushner listen as Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Rustem Umerov (R) speaks while leading the Ukrainian delegation during a meeting in Hallandale Beach, Florida on November 30, 2025.  © Chandan Khanna / AFP

The two sides had been scheduled to meet in Florida on Thursday in talks slated to involve US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, though officials have not confirmed if that meeting went ahead.

"Another meeting is expected today," Oleksandr Bevz, an advisor in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's office, told AFP after days of frenzied diplomacy on the plan.

A first draft of Washington's plan would have seen Ukraine surrendering land that Russia has not been able to win on the battlefield in return for security promises that fall short of Kyiv's aspirations to join NATO.

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A new version was later hammered out by officials from Ukraine, Europe, and the US, but Moscow appeared to reject parts of it at a meeting on Tuesday.

"The diplomatic process takes place mostly behind the scenes," Mykhailo Podolyak, another Zelensky advisor, wrote on social media Friday.

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"Ukraine seeks to end the war and is ready for talks," Podolyak said, adding, "The United States wants a pragmatic process and a quick end to the war, expecting compromises from both sides."

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