US says Ukraine talks productive as Witkoff heads to Russia

Witkoff leaves Monday for Moscow, according to a US official.

US and Ukrainian negotiators said they had productive discussions about a framework for a peace deal, but there was no final breakthrough as President Donald Trump continues to push for a truce with Russia.

“There’s more work to be done,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in Florida after meeting for at least four hours with Ukrainian officials led by National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov. “This is delicate. It’s complicated.”

The meeting, which took place in Florida with US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner also in attendance, was likely the last chance for Ukraine’s negotiators to sway Witkoff before he leads a US delegation for talks in Russia this week.

Rubio said the aim of the negotiations wasn’t just about ending the fighting but also about helping Ukraine “enter an age of true prosperity.” Umerov said the US “was very super supportive.”

“I think Russia would like to see it end. I know Ukraine would like to see it end. Ukraine’s got some difficult little problems,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on his way to Washington, adding he spoke with Rubio and Witkoff following the talks in Florida.

Ukraine has “a corruption situation going on, which is not helpful,” Trump said. “But I think there’s a good chance we can make a deal.”

Trump has been pushing Kyiv to make territorial and other concessions to Moscow in order to end the fighting in the war triggered by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Witkoff leaves Monday for Moscow, according to a US official.

“We’ve also been in touch to varying degrees with the Russian side, but we have a pretty good understanding of their views as well,” Rubio said.

Sunday’s talks came after Russia on Friday night unleashed an air barrage on Ukraine’s capital, killing at least three people and causing widespread power outages.

US and Russian delegations met in Abu Dhabi last week following talks in Geneva that made advances in defusing the vehement opposition from Kyiv and its European allies to a 28-point peace proposal the White House team floated in recent weeks.

Ukraine’s team in Geneva a week ago was led by Andriy Yermak, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s long-time chief of staff, who resigned on Friday under a corruption cloud following a raid on his apartment by anti-graft investigators.

That initial draft plan caught Kyiv and Ukrainian allies off-guard with its demands that the war-battered nation drop its ambition to join NATO and surrender territory in the eastern Donbas region, including areas Russia doesn’t yet control.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Nov. 27 that Trump’s proposals for ending his war in Ukraine could form the basis for a future agreement, but cautioned there wasn’t any final version yet.

Putin added that Moscow will stop fighting when Ukraine withdraws troops from areas in the Donetsk region that the Russian army hasn’t been able to take by force.