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American and Ukrainian officials are engaged in talks aimed at creating \u201creliable security guarantees\u201d for Ukraine as part of a US-backed peace plan ahead of a critical visit to Moscow by United States special envoy Steve Witkoff.<\/p>\n
At the meeting in Florida on Sunday, a Ukrainian delegation led by Rustem Umerov, head of Ukraine\u2019s National Security and Defence Council, sat down with Witkoff and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said the talks are aimed at \u201ccreating a pathway\u201d for a sovereign Ukraine.<\/p>\n list of 4 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n \u201cWe have clear directives and priorities: safeguarding Ukrainian interests, ensuring substantive dialogue, and advancing on the basis of the progress achieved in Geneva,\u201d Umerov wrote on X.<\/p>\n He added negotiators want to \u201csecure real peace for Ukraine and reliable, long-term security guarantees\u201d.<\/p>\n The talks come a week after Rubio and Ukrainian negotiators met in Geneva, Switzerland to revise US President Donald Trump\u2019s peace plan, which initially was criticised as a Russian wish list. The sit-down sets the stage for Witkoff\u2019s planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which Trump earlier signalled would take place this week.<\/p>\n Putin said the US draft \u2013 which has not yet been published \u2013 could serve as a \u201cbasis for future agreements\u201d, adding his talks with Witkoff should focus on the Russia-controlled Donbas and Crimea regions.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is participating in the Florida talks, may also be present in Moscow.<\/p>\n \u201cThis 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 \u2013 not just rebuild the country but to enter an era of extraordinary economic progress,\u201d said Rubio.<\/p>\n Talks between US and Ukrainian officials got off to a \u201cgood start\u201d and are taking place in a \u201cwarm atmosphere conducive to potential progressive outcome\u201d, said Ukraine\u2019s first deputy Foreign Minister Sergiy Kyslytsya on X.<\/p>\n 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 Zelenskyy reeling from a corruption scandal that led to the resignation of his chief of staff,\u00a0Andriy Yermak, this week.<\/p>\n It was Yermak who sat down with Rubio in Geneva last week to make amendments to Trump\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n The US pared back the original draft to 19 points following criticism from Kyiv and Europe, but the current contents remain unclear.<\/p>\n Zelenskyy wrote on X that the United States is \u201cdemonstrating a constructive approach\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the coming days, it is feasible to flesh out the steps to determine how to bring the war to a dignified end,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n On Sunday, the Ukrainian president said he spoke with NATO chief Mark Rutte and noted, \u201cThese are important days and much can change.\u201d<\/p>\n I spoke with Mark Rutte @SecGenNATO<\/a>, and we will continue our conversation in the coming days. These are important days, and much can change. We are coordinating closely, and in our efforts \u2013 and in the efforts of all our partners \u2013 it is our joint measures and shared positions\u2026<\/p>\n \u2014 Volodymyr Zelenskyy \/ \u0412\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0434\u0438\u043c\u0438\u0440 \u0417\u0435\u043b\u0435\u043d\u0441\u044c\u043a\u0438\u0439 (@ZelenskyyUa) November 30, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron hosts Zelenskyy for talks in Paris, the French presidency announced.<\/p>\n As Russia advances on the front line, its forces have targeted Ukraine\u2019s capital and the region for two nights in a row ahead of the talks in the US.<\/p>\n Russian attacks on Ukraine overnight on Saturday\u00a0killed six people\u00a0and wounded dozens of others across the country, and cut\u00a0power to 400,000 households in Kyiv.<\/p>\n A drone attack on the outskirts of Kyiv killed one person and wounded 11, the regional governor said.<\/p>\n Hours earlier, a Ukrainian security source said Kyiv was responsible for attacks on two oil tankers in the Black Sea that it believed were covertly transporting sanctioned Russian oil.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nRecommended Stories <\/h2>\n
\u2018Important days\u2019<\/h2>\n
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