Washington [US], December 1: American and Ukrainian officials are engaged in talks aimed at creating "reliable security guarantees" for Ukraine as part of a US-backed peace plan ahead of a critical visit to Moscow by United States special envoy Steve Witkoff.
At the meeting in Florida on Sunday, a Ukrainian delegation led by Rustem Umerov, head 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 at "creating a pathway" for a sovereign Ukraine.
"We have clear directives and priorities: safeguarding Ukrainian interests, ensuring substantive dialogue, and advancing on the basis of the progress achieved in Geneva," Umerov wrote on X.
He added negotiators want to "secure real peace for Ukraine and reliable, long-term security guarantees".
The talks come a week after Rubio and Ukrainian negotiators met in Geneva, Switzerland to revise US President Donald Trump's peace plan, which initially was criticised as a Russian wish list. The sit-down sets the stage for Witkoff's planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which Trump earlier signalled would take place this week.
Putin said the US draft - which has not yet been published - could serve as a "basis for future agreements", adding his talks with Witkoff should focus on the Russia-controlled Donbas and Crimea regions.
Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is participating in the Florida talks, may also be present in Moscow.
"This is about ending a war in a way that creates a mechanism for a way forward that will allow them [Ukraine] to be independent and sovereign and never have another war again, and create tremendous prosperity for its people - not just rebuild the country but to enter an era of extraordinary economic progress," said Rubio.
Talks between US and Ukrainian officials got off to a "good start" and are taking place in a "warm atmosphere conducive to potential progressive outcome", said Ukraine's first deputy Foreign Minister Sergiy Kyslytsya on X.
The negotiations come at a sensitive moment for Ukraine as it continues to push back against Russian forces that invaded in 2022, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reeling from a corruption scandal that led to the resignation of his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, this week.
It was Yermak who sat down with Rubio in Geneva last week to make amendments to Trump's original 28-point plan, which initially envisioned Ukraine ceding the entire eastern region of the Donbas to Russia, limiting the size of its military, and giving up on joining NATO. The US pared back the original draft to 19 points following criticism from Kiev and Europe, but the current contents remain unclear.
Zelensky wrote on X that the United States is "demonstrating a constructive approach". "In the coming days, it is feasible to flesh out the steps to determine how to bring the war to a dignified end," he said.
On Sunday, the Ukrainian president said he spoke with NATO chief Mark Rutte and noted, "These are important days and much can change." On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron hosts Zelensky for talks in Paris, the French presidency announced.
As Russia advances on the front line, its forces have targeted Ukraine's capital and the region for two nights in a row ahead of the talks in the US.
Russian attacks on Ukraine overnight on Saturday killed six people and wounded dozens of others across the country, and cut power to 400,000 households in Kiev.
Source: Qatar Tribune
