Today's Edition
MIAMI (AFP)
Ukrainian and US officials will hold a third straight day of talks in Miami on Saturday, with Washington saying the two sides agreed that "real progress" would depend on Russia's willingness to end the war.
President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner have been meeting top Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov and Andrii Hnatov, the chief of staff of Kyiv's armed forces.
The talks come after Witkoff and Kushner met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Tuesday to discuss a US plan to end the conflict, with Moscow rejecting parts of the proposal.
The US and Ukrainian officials "agreed on the framework of security arrangements and discussed necessary deterrence capabilities to sustain a lasting peace."
The US plan has been through several drafts since it first emerged late last month. After Witkoff, Trump's former business partner-turned-roving global ambassador, and investor Kushner met with Moscow, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said the five-hour late-night meeting on Tuesday was cordial, and praised Kushner joining the talks, which have been going on since spring.
Putin and Witkoff "had a genuinely friendly conversation and they understand each other perfectly," Ushakov said on Russian state TV on Friday.
"A new person has joined us, and I would say that he has turned out to be very useful," he said of Kushner.
On the Ukrainian side, Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, wrote on social media Friday that "the diplomatic process takes place mostly behind the scenes."
"Ukraine seeks to end the war and is ready for talks," Podolyak said, adding: "The United States wants a pragmatic process and a quick end to the war, expecting compromises from both sides."
Trump said Wednesday that the envoys had a "reasonably good meeting" with Putin, insisting that they had the "strong impression" that he would like to end the war.
Putin, who was in India this week meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said the talks were "complex" but that he wanted to engage with Trump's plan "rather than obstruct it."
