US and Ukraine held 'constructive' talks in Florida, Witkoff says

Se Young Lee, Bloomberg News on Dec 22, 2025

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U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said Trump administration officials held “productive and constructive” meetings with Ukrainian and European counterparts in Florida as part of efforts to end Russia’s war.

The talks included U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, top Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov and other European security advisers, Witkoff said in a post on X. Topics discussed included further developing the existing 20-point plan, a U.S. security guarantee framework and the economic development plan for Ukraine, he said.

“Our shared priority is to stop the killing, ensure guaranteed security, and create conditions for Ukraine’s recovery, stability, and long-term prosperity,” Witkoff said. “Peace must be not only a cessation of hostilities, but also a dignified foundation for a stable future.”

Trump has been pushing Ukraine to accept territorial and other concessions to Russia in order to end the war initiated by Moscow’s invasion in February 2022. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders have sought to revise the terms of the initial proposal co-written by the U.S. and Russia to reach a more palatable deal for Kyiv and generate security guarantees to ward off future Russian aggression.

Zelenskyy, who also called the talks constructive, said in a post late Sunday on X that the sides are going through “each point in detail.” Umerov, the Ukrainian leader’s top security official, said a particular focus was timing and sequencing of a peace framework.

Zelenskyy earlier in the day cast doubt on the Kremlin’s commitment.

“Unfortunately, the real signals coming from Russia remain only negative: assaults along the frontline, Russian war crimes in border areas, and continued strikes against our infrastructure,” he said. “It is essential that the world does not remain silent about all of this.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, said that Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who is holding separate talks with the U.S. team, will relay his findings — and Moscow will determine what “can be accepted and what absolutely cannot.”

“Most of the proposals will certainly not be acceptable to us, because we will pursue what we agreed on in Anchorage and at other meetings with American representatives,” Ushakov told state television on Sunday, referring to the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska in August, where Putin reinforced his maximalist demands.

The Russian leader last week said he’s willing to discuss bringing Russia’s war in Ukraine to an end, though ruled out changes sought by Kyiv and European leaders. The Kremlin had “practically agreed” on proposals for ending the war at the Alaska summit, Putin said.

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