White House envoy Steve Witkoff said Sunday that talks in Miami with both his Russian counterpart Kirill Dmitriev and with Ukrainian national security adviser Rustem Umerov were “productive and constructive” — but the discussions offered no clear breakthroughs to ending the war.
“Ukraine remains fully committed to achieving a just and sustainable peace,” Witkoff wrote in a statement. “Our shared priority is to stop the killing, ensure guaranteed security, and create conditions for Ukraine’s recovery, stability, and long-term prosperity.”
The readouts capped a weekend of meetings in Florida weeks after the Trump administration proposed a plan to end the war in Ukraine with an early draft that Kyiv officials and its backers in the European Union said was unworkable. Negotiators for Russia, Ukraine, Europe and the U.S. have continued to hash out proposals over the last weeks, though Ukraine and Russia have not directly negotiated, and each side met separately with U.S. officials in Florida.
Representatives from Russia and Ukraine shared Witkoff’s remarks on social media Sunday but offered no further details on possible progress made in the talks. Umerov issued a verbatim duplicate of Witkoff’s statement about Ukraine on X, while Dmitriev reposted Witkoff’s statement about talks with Russia.
The gulf between what the two warring sides want remains vast.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday evening, “The most difficult issues were and remain Ukraine’s territories.” Control of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, funding for post-war recovery and “several technical matters related to security guarantees” also remain sticking points, he added.
He urged the U.S. to exert more pressure on Moscow.
“America must clearly say: If not diplomacy, then full pressure will be applied, a very strong package of weapons for Ukraine, very strong support for Ukraine, and the United States will impose comprehensive sanctions on the entire economy and all sectors that generate revenue for the Russians,” Zelennskyy said.
Yuri Ushakov, an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said most of the peace plans proposed in Miami were advanced by Ukraine and Europe and seemed “rather unconstructive,” according to Russia’s TASS news agency.
Dmitriev, a Kremlin envoy and businessman, said Sunday that “warmongers” did not interfere with negotiations, saying “everything is fine,” TASS reported.
The British, French, German and Polish embassies in Washington did not immediately respond to POLITICO’s request for comment.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters Friday that “we have a ways to go” before signing a possible agreement, adding that peace talks could drag on for several more months. His comments put a damper on Trump’s Monday declaration that the parties are “closer now than we have been ever” to reaching a deal to end the war.
Zelenskyy said U.S. officials had proposed a trilateral meeting with Ukrainian and Russian national security advisors — a possibility that the Kremlin denied on Sunday — but questioned whether it could help make progress in talks.
On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron’s office signaled he could be open to a meeting with Putin, saying: “We will decide in the coming days on the best way to proceed.”
That came after European leaders agreed last week to loan Ukraine €90 billion in joint debt after Belgium torpedoed a plan to use frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine’s war effort.
Moves in Washington to shore up support for Ukraine have had a mixed track record. A bill that would slap new, harsher sanctions on Russia has failed to pick up traction in Congress.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), one of the bill’s lead sponsors, urged the Trump administration to up the pressure on the Kremlin if Putin does not agree to engage in peace talks.
“If Putin says no, we need to dramatically change the game including giving Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine to hit the drone and missile factories that exist in Russia,” he said in a Sunday interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” with Kristen Welker. “I would go all in if Putin says no.”
Others in the administration were far less sympathetic to Ukraine. Speaking at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest in Phoenix over the weekend, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard accused “the deep state within the intelligence community” of fomenting fear “as a way to justify the continuing of the war in their efforts to undermine President Trump’s efforts towards peace” — remarks that drew praise from Russia’s Dmitriev.



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