On Thursday, December 4, 2025, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff met Ukraine's senior negotiator Rustem Umerov in Miami. A White House official described the talks as "productive," and said both sides planned to reconvene on Friday, December 5, after briefing President Joe Biden and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The meetings, hosted at an undisclosed location, were scheduled before Witkoff and Jared Kushner flew to Moscow earlier this week to present a U.S.-backed peace plan to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Though not formal negotiation sessions, the Miami discussions helped lay groundwork for advancing the plan's next steps.
Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov called the Moscow meeting "truly friendly," noting that Putin and Witkoff spent five hours in the Kremlin. Putin later described the sessions as "very useful" for exploring a settlement of the Russia–Ukraine conflict.
As the envoys prepare to resume talks in Miami, all eyes are on how progress in these informal discussions might translate into formal diplomatic channels. Observers in Washington, Kyiv and beyond will watch closely as the teams report back to their leaders and outline potential paths toward de-escalation.
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U.S., Ukraine officials hold productive meeting, White House says
cgtn.com
