American and Ukrainian officials held talks aimed at creating \u201creliable security guarantees\u201d for Ukraine as part of a US-backed peace plan to end Russia\u2019s war, ahead of US special envoy Steve Witkoff\u2019s critical visit to Moscow.<\/p>\n
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the discussions were \u201cproductive\u201d, but there is \u201cmore work to be done\u201d, after meeting a Ukrainian delegation led by Rustem Umerov, head of Ukraine\u2019s National Security and Defence Council, in Florida on Sunday.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThis is delicate. It\u2019s complicated,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Before the talks, which also included Witkoff and US President Donald Trump\u2019s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, Rubio said the meeting was aimed at \u201ccreating a pathway\u201d for a sovereign Ukraine.<\/p>\n
After the talks, he said there are \u201ca lot of moving parts\u201d in discussions, and \u201cobviously, there\u2019s another party involved [Russia] here that will have to be a part of the equation\u201d.<\/p>\n
Rubio said the United States has been in touch \u201cin varying degrees\u201d with the Russians and has \u201ca pretty good understanding of their views as well\u201d.<\/p>\n
Umerov, who also hailed the negotiations as \u201cproductive\u201d, earlier wrote on X: \u201cWe have clear directives and priorities: safeguarding Ukrainian interests, ensuring substantive dialogue, and advancing on the basis of the progress achieved in Geneva.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that negotiators want to \u201csecure real peace for Ukraine and reliable, long-term security guarantees\u201d.<\/p>\n
The talks came a week after Rubio and Ukrainian negotiators met in Geneva, Switzerland, to revise Trump\u2019s peace plan<\/a>, which was initially criticised as a Russian wish list.<\/p>\n The sit-down set the stage for Witkoff\u2019s planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which Trump earlier signalled would take place this week.<\/p>\n Putin said the US draft, which has not yet been published, could serve as a \u201cbasis for future agreements\u201d<\/a>, adding that his talks with Witkoff should focus on the Russian-occupied Donbas and Crimea regions.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is about ending a war in a way that creates a mechanism for a way forward that will allow them [Ukraine] to be independent and sovereign and never have another war again, and create tremendous prosperity for its people \u2013 not just [to] rebuild the country but to enter an era of extraordinary economic progress,\u201d said Rubio ahead of the meeting.<\/p>\n Talks between US and Ukrainian officials got off to a \u201cgood start\u201d and are taking place in a \u201cwarm atmosphere conducive to potential progressive outcome\u201d, said Ukrainian First Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Sergiy Kyslytsya on X.<\/p>\n \u2018Important days\u2019<\/p>\n The negotiations come at a sensitive moment for Ukraine as it continues to push back against Russian forces that invaded in 2022, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reeling from a corruption scandal that led to the resignation of his chief of staff,\u00a0Andriy Yermak<\/a>, this week.<\/p>\n It was Yermak who sat down with Rubio in Geneva last week to make amendments to Trump\u2019s original 28-point plan<\/a>, which initially envisioned Ukraine ceding its entire eastern region of the Donbas to Russia, limiting the size of its military, and giving up on joining NATO.<\/p>\n The US pared back the original draft to 19 points following criticism from Kyiv and Europe, but the current contents remain unclear.<\/p>\n Zelenskyy wrote on X that the United States is \u201cdemonstrating a constructive approach\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the coming days, it is feasible to flesh out the steps to determine how to bring the war to a dignified end,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n On Sunday, the Ukrainian president said he spoke with NATO chief Mark Rutte, and noted, \u201cThese are important days and much can change\u201d.<\/p>\n I spoke with Mark Rutte @SecGenNATO<\/a>, and we will continue our conversation in the coming days. These are important days, and much can change. We are coordinating closely, and in our efforts \u2013 and in the efforts of all our partners \u2013 it is our joint measures and shared positions\u2026<\/p>\n \u2014 Volodymyr Zelenskyy \/ \u0412\u043e\u043b\u043e\u0434\u0438\u043c\u0438\u0440 \u0417\u0435\u043b\u0435\u043d\u0441\u044c\u043a\u0438\u0439 (@ZelenskyyUa) November 30, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n French President Emmanuel Macron will host Zelenskyy for talks in Paris on Monday, the French presidency announced.<\/p>\n As Russia advances on the front line, its forces have attacked Ukraine\u2019s capital and the region for two nights in a row ahead of the talks in the US.<\/p>\n Russian attacks overnight on Saturday killed six people<\/a> and wounded dozens of others across Ukraine, and cut power to 400,000 households in Kyiv.<\/p>\n A drone attack on the outskirts of Kyiv killed one person and wounded 11, the regional governor said.<\/p>\n Hours earlier, a Ukrainian security source said that Kyiv was responsible for attacks on two oil tankers<\/a> in the Black Sea that it believed were covertly transporting sanctioned Russian oil.<\/p>\n\n