Russian envoy rejects trilateral peace-talk proposal, meets Kushner in Miami
Dmitriev declines face-to-face with Kyiv, pursues talks with U.S. intermediaries as Kyiv seeks assurances; EU approves funding amid ongoing conflict
MIAMI — Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev rejected the Trump administration’s proposal for trilateral peace talks involving Russia and Ukraine, instead meeting with Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff in Miami on Saturday. Reuters reported that he refused to engage with Kyiv’s negotiating team, signaling a snub of the proposed format.
The United States had floated the idea of trilateral talks over the weekend, but Ukrainian officials offered only tepid support. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters on Saturday that it would be logical to hold such a joint meeting after we understand the potential results of the meeting that has already taken place, Politico reported. He remained skeptical that anything substantive would come from reviving the format, noting it had produced little progress in Istanbul last June. A Ukrainian team sat for hours with Kushner and Witkoff on Friday.
Elsewhere, the fighting persisted along the front lines. Reuters reported that a Ukrainian serviceman fired a Bohdana self-propelled howitzer toward Russian troops from a frontline position near Kostiantynivka in Donetsk region on Nov. 29, 2025.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there is no peace deal unless Ukraine agrees to it, adding that he would join trilateral talks if they materialize.
Kyiv has insisted it will not cede territory Moscow has failed to capture and seeks ironclad U.S. security guarantees as a condition for any deal. Meanwhile, the European Union extended a $105 billion loan Friday to Ukraine to sustain its defense and resistance against Russia.
