The White House has confirmed that US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will meet the head of Ukraine’s National Security Council, Rustem Umerov, for talks in Miami on Thursday. The meeting follows Witkoff’s nearly five-hour discussion with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Tuesday—negotiations the Kremlin said produced “no compromise” on ending the war.
US President Trump described the Moscow talks, which were also attended by his son-in-law Jared Kushner, as “reasonably good,” but cautioned that “it does take two to tango” and that it was too soon to predict an outcome.
When asked whether Witkoff and Kushner believed Putin genuinely wanted peace, Trump said: “[Putin] would like to end the war. That was their impression.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had earlier announced that a meeting between US and Ukrainian negotiators would take place “in the coming days.” In a statement on X, he said, “Right now, the world clearly feels that there is a real opportunity to end the war,” but stressed that any negotiations must be “backed by pressure on Russia.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybhia struck a harder line, accusing Putin of “wasting the world’s time” and insisting Russia must “end the bloodshed.”
The US-Russia talks followed days of consultations with Ukrainian and European leaders, amid concerns that a draft peace deal was tilted too far toward Moscow’s demands. Putin’s foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, said some US proposals were “more or less acceptable,” while others were openly criticized by the Russian leader. He did not elaborate, but at least two major issues remain unresolved: the status of Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories and future security guarantees for Ukraine.
By James Kisoo
