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US, Russia to hold talks on Ukraine war in Miami this weekend

U.S. and Russian officials are expected to meet in Miami this weekend as part of the Trump administration’s push to bring an end to nearly four years of war between Kyiv and Moscow, according to two people familiar with the matter.

As President Donald Trump’s efforts to end the fighting have faltered, the U.S. has ratcheted up pressure on Ukraine to make concessions that would end the war. The plans remain in flux, but if they go ahead this weekend, the administration will present the outcome of the most recent round of discussions to Russian officials, who have not shifted much on their demands.

The Russian delegation is expected to include the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund Kirill Dmitriev, according to one of the people familiar with the matter. Both people were granted anonymity to discuss plans for the next rounds of sensitive talks. Trump administration special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are expected to represent the U.S. side.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Witkoff and Kushner earlier this week held marathon talks in Berlin with Ukrainian and European officials to agree on U.S. security guarantees for Kyiv, territorial concessions and other matters as Washington continued to pressure Kyiv in its push to end the war. The U.S. has offered a mutual defense promise similar to the pledge it has made to NATO members while Ukraine has backed off its demand to immediately join the trans-Atlantic alliance.

Trump administration officials believe Russia will accept Western security guarantees and Ukraine’s EU membership in a final deal. But Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday gave no signs he had backed away from his desire to all but end Ukraine’s existence as a sovereign state.

Speaking to senior defense officials in Moscow, he said Russia would not back down from its mission to “liberate its historic lands” and predicted the European “swine” backing Kyiv would ultimately lose power.

The U.S. has said it expects to soon convene a group of Ukraine-supporting military officials in the U.S. to further hammer out technical details on security and territory. The U.S.-Russia talks in Miami appeared to be a separate effort.

Ukrainian national security adviser Rustem Umerov is also expected to meet with the American delegation in advance of the U.S.-Russia sit-down, said the first person familiar with the matter, adding that plans remained fluid.

European leaders have spent much of the past two weeks huddling to try and iron out specific plans for security guarantees for Kyiv, including a demilitarized zone along the current frontlines, and troop pledges for training Ukrainian forces and monitoring any ceasefire.

One European official, also granted anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy, said that the coalition troops would likely be tasked with operating aircraft and drones to survey the frontlines, while some troops would be stationed in western Ukraine “to help rebuild the Ukrainian forces — not to serve on the front line.”

LP Staff Writers

Writers at Lord’s Press come from a range of professional backgrounds, including history, diplomacy, heraldry, and public administration. Many publish anonymously or under initials—a practice that reflects the publication’s long-standing emphasis on discretion and editorial objectivity. While they bring expertise in European nobility, protocol, and archival research, their role is not to opine, but to document. Their focus remains on accuracy, historical integrity, and the preservation of events and individuals whose significance might otherwise go unrecorded.

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