U.S. Envoys to Brief Ukraine After Putin Rejects Peace Plan

In Washington, special presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are set to meet with Ukraine’s chief negotiator in Miami on Thursday. This follows Russian President Vladimir Putin’s dismissal of a recent peace plan crafted with Ukrainian officials during talks in Geneva last week.

According to U.S. officials, they have invited Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s national security adviser, to Florida for discussions. Umerov attended a meeting with Putin at the Kremlin on Tuesday, where no agreement was reached. Reports indicate that he accepted the invitation to meet in Miami.

Diving into the details, Witkoff and Kushner plan to review the latest demands put forth by Russia during a lengthy five-hour session in Moscow. Their goal is to foster dialogue aimed at ending the ongoing conflict.

Yuri Ushakov, a trusted aide to President Putin, stated that there have been discussions between Russia and the U.S. regarding multiple versions of a peace plan. However, none of these variants included the pro-Russian 28-point plan that had been reported previously.

Despite extensive negotiations, Ushakov noted, “no compromise option has yet been found.” He mentioned that some American proposals might have potential, but further dialogue is necessary. There are concerns about aspects of the language used, which he described as “not appropriate” for Russia.

He continued, “So, the work continues. This remains one of our most crucial issues.” The U.S.-Ukraine meeting on Thursday comes after Witkoff and Kushner’s admittedly poorly timed stop in Europe to update Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy before heading back to Washington D.C. from Moscow.

Prior to their visit to the Kremlin, there had been talks between Ukrainian and U.S. officials about possibly meeting up for a debriefing after their return. But plans shifted by the time negotiations concluded on Tuesday.

Ushakov relayed a somewhat vague assurance that, while they didn’t necessarily commit to visiting Kiev, they did promise to return home to Washington. There was a question, raised by a reporter, about whether Russia had any impact on Kushner and Witkoff’s decision not to first update Zelensky. A senior U.S. official indicated that the meeting was unconfirmed and suggested that ultimately, timing issues made it impractical.

The official concluded that both Witkoff and Kushner had communicated updates to President Trump and the Ukrainian leadership after their discussions with the Russians.