West Palm Beach, Florida — Senior Trump administration officials are meeting with Ukrainian negotiators in Florida this weekend, to press for mediation to end Russia’s war in Ukraine and set the stage for key talks scheduled this week in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, were expected to sit down with a Ukrainian delegation to further discuss details of the proposed peace framework — talks that come at a sensitive moment for Ukraine as it continues to push back against Russian forces that invaded the country in 2022.
On Friday, just before the Florida sit-in, the Ukrainian president said Volodymyr Zelensky He announced the resignation of his powerful chief of staff. Andrey Yermakwho until that moment had been the country’s main negotiator Talks with the United States.
This announcement came after a search of Yermak’s home Anti-corruption Investigators. Zelensky’s government was disturbed by the repercussions of A Scandal worth more than 100 million dollars He embezzled from the energy sector through bribes paid by contractors, causing new domestic pressure on Zelensky.
Just a week ago, Rubio met with Yermak in Geneva, where both sides said the talks were positive in developing a revised peace plan.
And now it includes the Ukrainian delegation Andrey HnatovCommander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine; Andrei SibihaMinister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine; and Rustam UmarovZelensky, head of the Ukrainian Security Council, said.
Diplomats are focusing on amendments to Trump’s proposals 28 point plan It developed in negotiations between Washington and Moscow. This plan has been criticized as being too biased towards Russian demands. I initially envisioned Ukraine giving up all of its territory Eastern region of Donbass To Russia – a sticking point for Kiev.
The plan — which Trump has since downplayed as a “concept” or “map” that should be “fine-tuned” — would also impose limits on the size of the Ukrainian military, prevent the country from joining NATO, and commit Ukraine to holding elections within 100 days. Negotiators indicated that the framework had changed, but it was not clear how its provisions were changed.
Trump said on Tuesday that he would send Witkopf and perhaps Kushner to Moscow this week to meet with Putin about the plan. Both Witkoff and Kushner, like Trump, come from a world of real estate that prefers deal-making to diplomatic agreements. The pair were also behind A.J 20 point suggestion Which led to a ceasefire in Gaza.
Russian drone and missile attacks on Saturday in and around the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, killed at least three people and injured dozens, officials said.
Zelensky The Ukrainian delegation “will quickly and substantively work on the necessary steps to end the war,” he wrote on X.