U.S., Russia describe Florida meeting on Ukraine conflict as 'constructive'

U.S. and Russian officials have described recent talks on the Ukraine conflict as constructive, though neither side disclosed details of the discussions.

U.S. presidential special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Saturday that U.S. and Russian delegations held "productive and constructive" meetings in Florida.

"Today in Florida, the Russian Special Envoy Kirill Dmitriev held productive and constructive meetings as part of the U.S. mediation effort toward advancing a peaceful resolution of the Ukrainian conflict," Witkoff said in a post on social media platform X.

According to the post, the U.S. delegation included Witkoff, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Jared Kushner, and White House Senior Advisor Josh Gruenbaum.

"We are encouraged by this meeting that Russia is working toward securing peace in Ukraine," said Witkoff.  

Dmitriev, Russian special presidential envoy for foreign investment and economic cooperation, responded to Witkoff's post, also describing the meeting with the U.S. delegation as constructive. "Constructive meeting with the US peacemaking delegation. Productive discussion also on the U.S.–Russia Economic Working Group."

Neither side released details of what was discussed.

The Florida meeting followed earlier contacts between the two sides. Dmitriev met Witkoff and Kushner in January on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He also held talks with U.S. negotiators on Ukraine during a visit to Miami in December.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that territorial issues cannot be resolved without direct contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin during negotiations.

In an interview, Zelenskyy said Ukraine is open to meetings in any format involving Russia and the United States, and expressed hope that Europe will be involved at a certain stage of the negotiations.

He said a trilateral meeting would be needed first and stressed that some form of direct engagement with the Russian head of state is essential; otherwise, negotiating teams would be unable to reach an agreement on territorial issues.

Russia has previously said that if Zelenskyy is willing to meet with President Putin, Moscow could invite him to Russia and guarantee his security, while stressing that direct talks between the two leaders would be possible only if concrete, positive outcomes could be ensured.

Zelenskyy has rejected the idea of talks in Moscow, saying it would be impossible for him to meet Putin there, and has instead formally invited the Russian president to hold negotiations in Kyiv.

Teams from Ukraine and Russia met on January 23 and 24 in Abu Dhabi in their first in-person negotiations. The second round of talks is set to start on Sunday, February 1.