Border with Russia becomes focal point in ‘hard, intense’ US-Ukraine negotiations | What we know

US and Ukrainian negotiators spent Sunday in a five-hour session focused primarily on determining where a potential peace agreement would set the effective border with Russia, two Ukrainian officials informed Axios. They described the talks as “hard” and “intense", though ultimately useful. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin, expected to meet President Trump’s envoy on Tuesday, maintains that Russia will not halt its offensive until it has full control of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.

Sunday’s discussions followed a Friday night Russian air assault on Ukraine’s capital, which killed at least three people and caused widespread power outages.

Negotiations aimed to guide Ukraine toward ‘a period of genuine prosperity’

The Florida meeting, attended by US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, was probably Ukraine’s final opportunity to influence Witkoff before he heads a US delegation to Russia later this week, a report by Bloomberg noted. Rubio noted that the negotiations aimed not only to end the conflict but also to guide Ukraine toward “an age of true prosperity". Umerov added that the US had been “very super supportive".

Trump told reporters on Air Force One en route to Washington, noting that he had spoken with Rubio and Witkoff after the Florida talks. He stated, “I think Russia would like to see it end. I know Ukraine would like to see it end. Ukraine’s got some difficult little problems. Ukraine has ‘a corruption situation going on, which is not helpful.’ But I think there’s a good chance we can make a deal.”

He has been urging Kyiv to make territorial and other concessions to Moscow to bring an end to the conflict triggered by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

According to a US official, Witkoff is scheduled to depart for Moscow on Monday.

Rubio said, “We’ve also been in touch to varying degrees with the Russian side, but we have a pretty good understanding of their views as well.”

Last week, US and Russian delegations met in Abu Dhabi after Geneva talks had made progress in easing Kyiv’s and its European allies’ strong opposition to a 28-point peace plan recently proposed by the White House team. Ukraine’s delegation in Geneva was led by Andriy Yermak, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s longtime chief of staff, who resigned on Friday amid a corruption scandal after a raid on his apartment by anti-graft investigators.