U.S., Russian officials meet in Florida for further Ukraine talks

U.S. negotiators met Russian officials in Florida on Saturday for the latest talks aimed at ending the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, as President Donald Trump's administration seeks to coax an agreement from both sides.

The Miami meeting followed U.S. talks on Friday with Ukrainian and European officials, part of ongoing discussions on a peace plan that has sparked some hope for a resolution to the conflict that began in February 2022.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's special envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, told reporters after meeting Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner that the talks were constructive and would continue on Sunday. A White House official said the talks had concluded for the day.

"The discussions are proceeding constructively. They began earlier and will continue today, and will also continue tomorrow," Dmitriev said.

Marco Rubio, Trump's top diplomat and national security advisor, had said he might also join the talks.

U.S., Ukrainian and European officials earlier this week reported progress on security guarantees for Kyiv as part of the talks to end the conflict, but it remains unclear whether those terms will be acceptable to Moscow.

A Russian source told Reuters that any meeting between Dmitriev and the Ukrainian negotiators had been ruled out.

In Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told local journalists that "America is now proposing a trilateral meeting with national security advisers – America, Ukraine, Russia."

The Ukrainian president remained cautiously optimistic about the prospect of such a trilateral meeting. Noting the results of previous talks in Türkiye included the return of captured soldiers and civilians, Zelenskyy said if the outcomes of the trilateral meeting are "exchanges or some other agreements," Ukraine cannot be against it.

However, Zelenskyy said that the most difficult issues in the ongoing peace process remain unresolved, including territorial issues, control over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, and funding for Ukraine's reconstruction.

During his annual press conference in Moscow on Friday, Putin insisted that Russia's terms for ending the conflict have not changed since June 2024, when he demanded Ukraine abandon its ambition to join NATO and withdraw entirely from four Ukrainian regions Russia claims as its own territory.

Kyiv says it will not cede land that Moscow's forces have failed to capture in nearly four years of conflict.

Ukraine's top negotiator, Rustem Umerov, said U.S. and European teams on Friday held talks and agreed to continue their joint efforts.

"We agreed with our American partners on further steps and on continuing our joint work in the near future," Umerov wrote on Telegram about the discussions in the United States.

(With input from agencies)