Russia says talks on US peace plan for Ukraine are proceeding constructively

Russia said talks on a U.S.-backed peace plan for Ukraine were proceeding constructively in Florida on Saturday, as Moscow pressed for terms it has long demanded. Kirill Dmitriev, a Kremlin envoy to the negotiations, told reporters in Miami that discussions with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were under way and would continue. The talks are part of a broader U.S. diplomatic push that has included meetings with Ukrainian and European officials in Berlin earlier in the week.

'The discussions are proceeding constructively. They began earlier and will continue today, and will also continue tomorrow,' Dmitriev said, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. The remarks came as Dmitriev met with Witkoff and Kushner in Miami. The ongoing talks underscore Washington’s effort to broker a framework for endgame negotiations, even as the conflict on the battlefield shows little sign of a quick settlement.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday that much would depend on the U.S. posture after discussions with the Russians. Ukraine’s chief negotiator also said his delegation had completed separate meetings in the United States with American and European partners, signaling continued diplomacy with Western officials who back Kyiv in its war against Moscow.

Trump has unleashed an extensive diplomatic push to end the war, but his efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv. Russian President Vladimir Putin has recently signaled he is digging in on his maximalist demands on Ukraine, as Moscow’s troops inch forward on the battlefield despite substantial losses. On Friday, Putin expressed confidence that the Kremlin would achieve its military goals if Kyiv didn’t agree to Russia’s conditions in peace talks.

European Union leaders agreed on Friday to provide 90 billion euros ($106 billion) to Ukraine to meet its military and economic needs for the next two years, though they failed to bridge differences with Belgium that would have allowed the use of frozen Russian assets to raise the funds. Instead, the money was borrowed from capital markets, reflecting the ongoing complexity of financing Western support for Kyiv as the war enters its fourth year.

The evolving diplomacy comes as Kyiv, Washington, and European capitals seek a durable framework that could deter further Russian aggression while addressing Ukraine’s security and reconstruction needs. Observers caution that while high-level talks proceed, a breakthrough remains uncertain amid divergent positions and the fog of war.