Ukrainian and American delegations began negotiations on a peace plan to end the war in Ukraine on Sunday in Florida. This was confirmed by the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council and head of the Ukrainian delegation, Rustem Umerov, reports TASR.
“I am in constant contact with the President of Ukraine (Volodymyr Zelensky). We have clear guidelines and priorities – protection of Ukrainian interests, substantive dialogue and progress based on the results achieved in Geneva,” Umerov wrote on the Telegram social network. He added that the goal of the talks is to achieve “real” peace.
Ukrainian negotiators meet with high-ranking representatives of the US administration – by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, son-in-law and adviser to President Donald Trump.
Rubio said he expects “more progress” from the meeting toward an agreement to end the war in Ukraine. “This is not just about peace deals. This is about creating a path forward that will leave Ukraine sovereign, independent and prosperous. We expect to make even more progress today,” added the American minister.
The second round of negotiations follows the meeting that took place a week ago in Geneva, Switzerland. The original American draft of the peace plan, which leaned heavily towards Moscow’s demands, was subsequently revised during this meeting, reminds the DPA agency. At the same time, the American side emphasized that the proposal remains a “living and evolving document” that is being modified according to feedback from partners.
However, it is not yet clear what Russia’s position will be on the terms being negotiated. The US team is expected to travel to Moscow next week for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, CNN reported.
According to a CNN source, despite modest progress in the negotiations, at least three key areas of fundamental differences remain. This mainly concerns the question of whether Ukraine should cede the entire Donbas in the east of the country to Russia, whether it should commit to limiting the size of the army to a maximum of 600,000 soldiers and never join NATO.
In Moscow, these three topics – the withdrawal of territory, the demilitarization of Ukraine and its exclusion from future membership in NATO – are most often cited by Russian President Vladimir Putin as reasons for starting the war. However, these demands are clearly rejected by Kyiv and its European allies.
