U.S., Russian negotiators to meet in Miami over peace deal to end Ukraine crisis: media

U.S. and Russian negotiators are expected to hold talks in Miami, in the U.S. state of Florida, this weekend over a peace deal aimed at ending the Ukraine crisis that has lasted nearly four years, U.S. media outlet Politico reported on Wednesday.

The schedule remains in flux, and if they meet, the Trump administration will present to the Russian side the latest developments following talks among U.S., Ukrainian and European officials in Berlin last weekend, the report said, citing two people familiar with the matter.

U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, are expected to represent the U.S. side, while the Russian delegation is expected to include Russian President Vladimir Putin's special envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, the report said.

Ukrainian national security adviser Rustem Umerov is also expected to meet with the U.S. delegation separately in Miami or another location in the United States this coming weekend.

U.S., European and Ukrainian officials have reached consensus or significantly closed gaps on 90 percent of their differences on a 20-point U.S. draft peace plan during the Berlin talks last weekend, officials with the Trump administration said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukraine could suspend its bid to join NATO in exchange for Western security guarantees to prevent renewed conflict with Russia if a peace agreement were reached, with Kyiv seeking protections comparable to those granted to alliance members – assurances the United States has so far not offered.

He said that Ukraine stands ready to agree on security guarantees based on NATO Article 5 as part of a compromise in the peace process, the Ukrinform news agency reported.

Zelenskyy will be in Brussels on Thursday to attend a crucial European Union summit that will decide whether to loan the nearly $250 billion of frozen Russian sovereign assets to Ukraine to fund its military and economic needs.

He called on Ukraine's partners to secure support for Kyiv. "The outcome of these meetings – the outcome for Europe – must be such that Russia feels that its desire to continue fighting next year will be pointless, because Ukraine will have support," Zelenskyy said in his evening address on Wednesday.

Moscow has said that any use of the assets is theft and has warned of retaliatory seizures of European private investors' holdings in Russia.

In Moscow on Wednesday, Putin said Russia would take more land in Ukraine by force if Kyiv and European politicians did not engage over U.S. proposals for a peace settlement.

(With input from Xinhua, Reuters)

(Cover: U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff (R) is accompanied by Russian President Vladimir Putin's special envoy Kirill Dmitriev at the Kremlin in Moscow, December 2, 2025. /VCG)