Kyiv

Officials from Ukraine and the United States held fresh negotiations to develop “reliable security guarantees” for Kyiv under a Washington-backed peace initiative aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine war, Al Jazeera reported.

A Ukrainian delegation, led by National Security and Defence Council chief Rustem Umerov, met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Florida on Sunday. Rubio said the talks were “productive” but stressed that “more work needs to be done” to transform the progress into a concrete framework. “This is delicate. It’s complicated,” he noted.

The meeting also included Witkoff and former US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Witkoff is scheduled to travel to Moscow on Monday for negotiations with Russian officials this week.

Rubio said both sides shared a “realistic but optimistic” approach, adding that the objective was not only to end the war, but to ensure “a secure and more prosperous future for Ukraine.” He acknowledged that “another party involved — Russia — will have to be part of the equation,” and confirmed that the US has been in touch with Russian officials “in varying degrees”.

The latest round of talks followed a meeting last week in Geneva, where Ukrainian and US negotiators revised Trump’s proposed peace plan after initial criticism that it favoured Moscow.

Ahead of the Florida talks, Umerov wrote on X that Ukraine’s priorities included safeguarding national interests, ensuring substantive dialogue, and building on progress made in Geneva. He said Kyiv is seeking “real peace for Ukraine and reliable, long-term security guarantees”.

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The US-Ukraine discussion sets the stage for Witkoff’s expected meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin later this week. Putin earlier said that the unpublished US draft plan could serve as a “basis for future agreements”, and added that his talks with Witkoff should focus on the Russia-occupied Donbas and Crimea regions, according to Al Jazeera.