{"id":615667,"date":"2025-12-06T09:47:20","date_gmt":"2025-12-06T09:47:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/615667\/"},"modified":"2025-12-06T09:47:20","modified_gmt":"2025-12-06T09:47:20","slug":"us-and-ukraine-officials-to-meet-for-third-day-after-security-framework-progress-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/615667\/","title":{"rendered":"US and Ukraine officials to meet for third day after security framework progress"},"content":{"rendered":"

The two sides also offered the sober assessment that any \u201creal progress toward any agreement\u201d will ultimately depend \u201con Russia\u2019s readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace\u201d.<\/p>\n

The statement from US special envoy Steve Witkoff, Mr Trump\u2019s son-in-law Jared Kushner as well as Ukrainian negotiators Rustem Umerov and Andriy Hnatov came after they met for a second day in Florida on Friday.<\/p>\n

They offered only broad brushstrokes about the progress they say has been made as Mr Trump pushes Kyiv and Moscow to agree to a US-mediated proposal to end nearly four years of war.<\/p>\n

\"USUS Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, and Ukraine\u2019s Secretary of National Security Rustem Umerov shake hands in Hallandale Beach, Florida, at an earlier meeting (Terry RennaAP)<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth parties agreed that real progress toward any agreement depends on Russia\u2019s readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace, including steps toward de-escalation and cessation of killings,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

\u201cParties also separately reviewed the future prosperity agenda which aims to support Ukraine\u2019s post-war reconstruction, joint US\u2013Ukraine economic initiatives, and long-term recovery projects.\u201d<\/p>\n

The US and Ukrainian officials also discussed \u201cdeterrence capabilities\u201d that Ukraine will need \u201cto sustain a lasting peace\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mr Witkoff and Mr Kushner\u2019s talks in Florida with Mr Umerov, Ukraine\u2019s lead negotiator, and Mr Hnatov follow discussions between President Vladimir Putin and the US envoys at the Kremlin on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s session took place at the Shell Bay Club in Hallandale Beach, a high-end private golf and lifestyle destination owned by Mr Witkoff\u2019s property development company.<\/p>\n

\"VladimirRussian President Vladimir Putin (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n

Previous diplomatic attempts to break the deadlock have come to nothing and the war has continued unabated. Officials largely have kept a lid on how the latest talks are going, though Mr Trump\u2019s initial 28-point plan was leaked.<\/p>\n

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country\u2019s delegation in Florida wanted to hear from the US side about the talks at the Kremlin.<\/p>\n

Mr Zelensky, as well as European leaders backing him, have repeatedly accused Mr Putin of stalling in peace talks while the Russian army tries to press forward with its invasion.<\/p>\n

Mr Zelensky said in a video address late on Thursday that officials wanted to know \u201cwhat other pretexts Putin has come up with to drag out the war and to pressure Ukraine\u201d.<\/p>\n

Speaking to Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin on Friday, Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov praised Mr Kushner as potentially playing an important role in ending Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. Mr Ushakov also took part in Tuesday\u2019s talks at the Kremlin.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf any plan leading to a settlement is put on paper, it will be the pen of Mr Kushner that will lead the way,\u201d Mr Ushakov said.<\/p>\n

The flattering comments about Mr Kushner by the senior Russian official come as Mr Putin has sought to sow division between Mr and Ukraine and Europe at a moment when Mr Trump\u2019s impatience with the conflict is mounting.<\/p>\n

Mr Putin said his five-hour talks this week with Mr Witkoff and Mr Kushner were \u201cnecessary\u201d and \u201cuseful\u201d, but some proposals were unacceptable.<\/p>\n

Mr Kushner, who is married to Mr Trump\u2019s daughter Ivanka, was a senior adviser to Mr Trump during his first term and was the president\u2019s point person on developing the Abraham Accords, which formalised commercial and diplomatic ties between Israel and a trio of Arab nations.<\/p>\n

Mr Ushakov, who accompanied Putin on a visit to India on Friday, repeated the Russian president\u2019s recent criticism of Europe\u2019s stance on the peace talks. Kyiv\u2019s European allies are concerned about possible Russian aggression beyond Ukraine and want a prospective peace deal to include strong security guarantees.<\/p>\n

Kyiv\u2019s allies in Europe are \u201cconstantly putting forward demands that are unacceptable to Moscow,\u201d Mr Ushakov told Russia\u2019s state-owned Zvezda TV. \u201cPutting it mildly, the Europeans don\u2019t help Washington and Moscow reach a settlement on the Ukrainian issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"EmmanuelFrance\u2019s President Emmanuel Macron during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing (Adek Berry\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n

French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday that he made progress during a visit to Beijing on getting Chinese leader Xi Jinping\u2019s support for peace efforts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe exchanged deeply and truthfully on all points, and I saw a willingness from the (Chinese) president to contribute to stability and peace,\u201d Mr Macron said.<\/p>\n

The French president said he stressed that Ukraine needs guarantees that Russia will not attack it again if a settlement is reached and that Europe must have a voice in negotiations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe unity between Americans and Europeans on the Ukrainian issue is essential. And I say it, repeat it, emphasise it. We need to work together,\u201d Mr Macron said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The two sides also offered the sober assessment that any \u201creal progress toward any agreement\u201d will ultimately depend…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":615519,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5311],"tags":[49,978,659],"class_list":{"0":"post-615667","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-united-states","9":"tag-us","10":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115671994057164392","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=615667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/615519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=615667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=615667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=615667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}