US, Ukraine talks on Russia productive, but much work yet to be done: Rubio

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US and Ukrainian officials completed roughly four hours of talks Sunday aimed at finding an endgame to the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters afterward that the session was productive but work remains in the search for a peace deal.

It's not just about the terms that ends fighting, Rubio said. It's about also the terms that set up Ukraine for long-term prosperity. ... I think we built on that today, but there's more work to be done."  The high-level negotiations in Florida came days before President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, will be in Moscow to meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Rubio, Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, represented the American side in the talks, held at a sensitive time as Ukraine continues to push back against Russian forces that invaded in 2022 while dealing with a domestic corruption scandal.

Diplomats have focused on revisions to a proposed US-authored plan that was developed in negotiations between Washington and Moscow. That plan has been criticised as being too weighted toward Russian demands. As the meeting began Sunday, Rubio focused on reassuring Ukraine.

The end goal is, obviously, not just the end of the war, Rubio said. But it's also about securing an end to the war that leaves Ukraine sovereign and independent and with an opportunity at real prosperity.

This is not just about peace deals, the top American diplomat said as the teams sat down at the Shell Bay Club, a golf and racket club developed by Witkoff in Hallandale Beach.

Rustem Umerov, head of Ukraine's security council, responded to Rubio by expressing his country's appreciation for US efforts, a message geared toward Trump, who has at times claimed that Ukraine has not been sufficiently grateful for US assistance during the war.

US is hearing us," Umerov said. "US is supporting us. US is working beside us.

Umerov, who appeared with Rubio to deliver a brief statement to reporters after the talks, underscored Ukraine's gratitude for US support during nearly 4-year war. But the senior official offered no hints about what, if any, progress was made during the talks.

Our objective is a prosperous, strong Ukraine, Umerov said. We discussed all the, important, matters that are important for Ukraine, for Ukrainian people, and US was super supportive."  Umerov has been involved in ongoing talks. But until now, Ukraine's head negotiator had been Andrii Yermak, the powerful chief of staff of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. On Friday, Zelenskyy announced the resignation of Yermak, after his home was searched by anti-corruption investigators.

Zelenskyy's government has been roiled by fallout from a scandal over USD 100 million embezzled from the energy sector through kickbacks paid by contractors, causing newfound domestic pressures for Zelenskyy.

It was only a week ago that Rubio had met with Yermak in Geneva, with each side saying the talks had been positive in putting together a revised peace plan.

Among the other members of the Ukrainian delegation were Andrii Hnatov, the head of Ukraine's armed forces, and presidential adviser Oleksandr Bevz.

The plan, which Trump has since played down as a concept or a map to be fine-tuned, would have imposed limits on the size of Ukraine's military, blocked the country from joining Nato and required Ukraine to hold elections in 100 days. Negotiators have indicated the framework has changed, but it's not clear how its provisions have been altered.

It had initially envisioned Ukraine ceding the entire eastern region of the Donbas to Russia a sticking point for Kyiv.

Trump said on Tuesday that he would send Witkoff and perhaps Kushner to Moscow this week to meet with Putin about the plan. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in comments published Sunday on Russian state television, said Putin would see Witkoff before Thursday, when Putin departs for India.

Both Witkoff and Kushner, like Trump, hail from the world of real estate that values dealmaking over the conventions of diplomacy. The pair also were behind a 20-point proposal that led to a ceasefire in Gaza.

Zelenskyy wrote on X that the Ukrainian delegation would swiftly and substantively work out the steps needed to end the war.

In his nightly address on Saturday, Zelenskyy said the American side was 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 Saturday, Russian drone and missile attacks in and around Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, killed at least three people and wounded dozens more, officials said. Fresh attacks overnight into Sunday killed one person and wounded 19 others, including four children, local officials said, when a drone hit a nine-story apartment block in the city of Vyshhorod in the Kyiv region.