Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Washington had proposed the first face-to-face negotiations between Ukraine and Russia in half a year, as diplomats converged on Miami for fresh talks on ending the war.

Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev said on Saturday that he was heading to Miami, while Ukrainian and European teams were also in the sunny American city for the negotiations, mediated by Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and the US president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

“They proposed this format as far as I understand: Ukraine, America, Russia,” Zelenskyy said, adding that the Europeans could be present, and it would be “logical to hold such a joint meeting… after we understand the potential results of the meeting that has already taken place”.

Trump’s envoys have pushed a plan in which the United States would offer security guarantees to Ukraine, but Kiev will likely be expected to surrender some territory, a prospect resented by many Ukrainians.

However, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday promised not to force Ukraine into any agreement, saying “there’s no peace deal unless Ukraine agrees to it”. He added that he may join the talks on Saturday in Miami, his hometown.

Dmitriev wrote in an X post that he was “on the way to Miami”, adding a peace dove emoji and attaching a short video of a morning sun shining through clouds on a beach with palms.

“As warmongers keep working overtime to undermine the US peace plan for Ukraine, I remembered this video from my previous visit — light breaking through the storm clouds,” he added.

The last time Ukrainian and Russian envoys held official direct talks was in July in Istanbul, which led to prisoner swaps but no agreement on a concrete ceasefire was reached.

Russian and European involvement marks a step forward from before, when the Americans held separate negotiations with each side in different locations.

However, it is unlikely Dmitriev would hold direct talks with European negotiators as relations between the two sides remain extremely strained.

Moscow, which sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, argues that Europe’s involvement in the talks would only hinder the process and tends to paint the continent’s leaders as pro-war.

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