US and Ukraine talks begin as Trump pushes to bring war to an end

Delegations conscionable successful Florida to ‘create pathway’ for sovereign Ukraine up of US peculiar envoy Witkoff’s planned sojourn to Moscow.

American and Ukrainian officials are engaged successful talks aimed astatine creating “reliable information guarantees” for Ukraine arsenic portion of a US-backed bid program up of a captious sojourn to Moscow by United States peculiar envoy Steve Witkoff.

At the gathering successful Florida connected Sunday, a Ukrainian delegation led by Rustem Umerov, caput of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, sat down with Witkoff and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said the talks are aimed astatine “creating a pathway” for a sovereign Ukraine.

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“We person wide directives and priorities: safeguarding Ukrainian interests, ensuring substantive dialogue, and advancing connected the ground of the advancement achieved successful Geneva,” Umerov wrote connected X.

He added negotiators privation to “secure existent bid for Ukraine and reliable, semipermanent information guarantees”.

The talks travel a week aft Rubio and Ukrainian negotiators met successful Geneva, Switzerland to revise US President Donald Trump’s bid plan, which initially was criticised arsenic a Russian privation list. The sit-down sets the signifier for Witkoff’s planned gathering with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which Trump earlier signalled would instrumentality spot this week.

Putin said the US draught – which has not yet been published – could service arsenic a “basis for aboriginal agreements”, adding his talks with Witkoff should absorption connected the Russia-controlled Donbas and Crimea regions.

Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is participating successful the Florida talks, whitethorn besides beryllium contiguous successful Moscow.

“This is astir ending a warfare successful a mode that creates a mechanics for a mode guardant that volition let them [Ukraine] to beryllium autarkic and sovereign and ne'er person different warfare again, and make tremendous prosperity for its radical – not conscionable rebuild the state but to participate an epoch of bonzer economical progress,” said Rubio.

Talks betwixt US and Ukrainian officials got disconnected to a “good start” and are taking spot successful a “warm ambiance conducive to imaginable progressive outcome”, said Ukraine’s archetypal lawman Foreign Minister Sergiy Kyslytsya connected X.

‘Important days’

The negotiations travel astatine a delicate infinitesimal for Ukraine arsenic it continues to propulsion backmost against Russian forces that invaded successful 2022, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reeling from a corruption ungraded that led to the resignation of his main of staff, Andriy Yermak, this week.

It was Yermak who sat down with Rubio successful Geneva past week to marque amendments to Trump’s archetypal 28-point plan, which initially envisioned Ukraine ceding the full eastbound portion of the Donbas to Russia, limiting the size of its military, and giving up connected joining NATO.

The US pared backmost the archetypal draught to 19 points pursuing disapproval from Kyiv and Europe, but the existent contents stay unclear.

Zelenskyy wrote connected X that the United States is “demonstrating a constructive approach”.

“In the coming days, it is feasible to soma retired the steps to find however to bring the warfare to a dignified end,” helium said.

On Sunday, the Ukrainian president said helium spoke with NATO main Mark Rutte and noted, “These are important days and overmuch tin change.”

I spoke with Mark Rutte @SecGenNATO, and we volition proceed our speech successful the coming days. These are important days, and overmuch tin change. We are coordinating closely, and successful our efforts – and successful the efforts of each our partners – it is our associated measures and shared positions…

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) November 30, 2025

On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron hosts Zelenskyy for talks successful Paris, the French presidency announced.

As Russia advances connected the beforehand line, its forces person targeted Ukraine’s superior and the portion for 2 nights successful a enactment up of the talks successful the US.

Russian attacks connected Ukraine overnight connected Saturday killed six people and wounded dozens of others crossed the country, and cut power to 400,000 households successful Kyiv.

A drone onslaught connected the outskirts of Kyiv killed 1 idiosyncratic and wounded 11, the determination politician said.

Hours earlier, a Ukrainian information root said Kyiv was liable for attacks connected two lipid tankers successful the Black Sea that it believed were covertly transporting sanctioned Russian oil.