US special envoy, Steve Witkoff, has described US-mediated negotiations with Russian envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, in Florida on Saturday as being “constructive and positive”, bringing hope to ending the four-year Russia-Ukraine war.
In a post on X, Witkoff wrote: “We are encouraged by this meeting that Russia is working toward securing peace in Ukraine.”
US Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and White House adviser Josh Gruenbaum also attended the talks in Florida, although neither side released details of the discussions.
Saturday’s meeting comes ahead of a second round of negotiations between Ukrainian and Russian delegates, scheduled to take place in Abu Dhabi next week as US President Donald Trump pushes to end the war in Ukraine.
Dmitriev had met also Witkoff and Kushner last month on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and also discussed the Ukraine war with the US negotiators during a visit to Miami in December.
Also Read: Ukraine trilateral peace talks ‘very constructive’: Witkoff
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, indicated that Kyiv was awaiting more information from the US on the peace talks and expected a fresh round to be held next week.
The first trilateral direct talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials and US negotiators were held in Abu Dhabi last week, of which Trump said “progress had been made”.
Additionally, Trump spoke with Putin to halt Russian’s attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure that has affected power grid across the country, plummeting it into dark while temperatures near freezing point.
On Thursday, Trump said Putin had agreed to not attack Ukraine for another week amid extreme weather conditions.
Kremlin also confirmed on Friday that Putin had received the request and accepted the US President’s proposal, to which Zelenskyy responded on X: “The issue of a ceasefire on energy infrastructure attacks had been discussed during last week’s talks, and I expect the agreements to be implemented. De-escalation steps contribute to real progress toward ending the war.”
Russia has remained firm since April 2022 on its core demands for ending the war: Ukraine’s withdrawal from eastern Donbas, reduction of troop strength to below 600,000, and “denazification” of the country.
Ukraine has rejected any territorial concessions, describing the demands as unacceptable, but Putin and senior officials have warned that if Ukraine refuses to make territorial concessions, Russian forces will achieve their stated goals by force.
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