US says talks with Russia, Ukraine in Miami ‘constructive, productive’

US says talks with Russia, Ukraine in Miami ‘constructive, productive’ US envoy holds separate meetings with Russian and Ukrainian negotiators in Miami on ending Russia’s war in Ukraine. US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff has hailed talks on ending Moscow’s war in Ukraine as “productive and constructive”, after holding separate meetings with Ukrainian, European and Russian negotiators in the state of Florida. The talks in Miami on Sunday were the latest in a series of meetings between the US, Russia and Ukraine on a 20-point plan touted by US President Donald Trump to end the nearly four-year-old war. Recommended Stories list of 4 items list 1 of 4 Russia-Ukraine war may “grind on for another 12 to 18 months” list 2 of 4 Week in Pictures: From shooting in Australia to protest in Brussels list 3 of 4 Russia criticises European moves to amend US plan to end Ukraine war list 4 of 4 Will Trump’s ‘imperfect plan’ for ending the Ukraine war work? Despite the optimism from the US, there have been no clear signals of imminent resolutions to key hurdles, including on the issue of the territory Russia has seized during the conflict. Witkoff, who met with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy Kirill Dmitriev on Saturday, held talks on Sunday with officials from Ukraine and Europe. He then held separate talks with the Ukrainian delegation, led by senior official Rustem Umerov. Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined the meetings. Witkoff, in a joint statement with Umerov, called Sunday’s talks “productive and constructive”, saying they focused on a “shared strategic approach between Ukraine, the United States and Europe”. “Particular attention was given to discussing timelines and the sequencing of next steps,” they said. Witkoff and Umerov said that bilateral discussions between Ukrainian and US officials on Sunday focused on developing and aligning positions on four key documents: the 20-point plan, a “multilateral security guarantee framework,” a “US Security guarantee framework for Ukraine”, and an “economic & prosperity plan”. In a separate X post that ‍used some of ⁠the same language, Witkoff said his talks with Dmitriev were also “productive and constructive”. “Russia remains fully committed to achieving peace in Ukraine,” Witkoff said in the post. “Russia highly values the efforts and support of the United States to resolve the Ukrainian conflict and re-establish global security.” Earlier on Sunday, Putin’s top foreign policy aide, Yury Ushakov , said that the changes requested by Ukraine and its European allies to the framework put forth by the US were not improving prospects for peace. Ushakov said that Dmitriev was due to return to Moscow on Monday and would report to Putin on the outcome of his talks. “After that, we will formulate the position with which we will proceed, including in our contacts with the Americans,” he said. Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, sees Europe as “pro-war” and argues that its participation in the talks only hinders them. Separately on Sunday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said...

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