US, Russian officials meet in Miami for talks on Ukraine war

As Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, demanded that Washington put more pressure on Moscow to end its conflict with Ukraine, two negotiators from Russia and the United States met in Miami.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, US President Steve Witkoff’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, were in attendance for the Saturday meeting.

Dmitriev assured the reporters that the talks would continue on Sunday.

According to Dmitriev, “the discussions are going in a constructive way.” They “started earlier,” “they’re going to continue today,” “they’ll continue tomorrow.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had previously stated that he might also participate in the Miami discussions. He claimed that although the war has been ended, there still is still work to be done.

Rubio said, “The role we’re trying to play is to see if there is any overlap here that they can agree to, and we’ve spent a lot of time and effort]on.” It’s possible that’s not possible. I’m hoping so. I’m hoping it’s finished this month, before the year’s end.

A 20-point peace plan has been being negotiated by Trump’s envoys with Ukrainian, Russian, and European officials for weeks.

Despite US officials’ claims that progress has been made, Kyiv claims that any agreement must depend on two important issues: security guarantees and territory.

Russia has shown little evidence that it is willing to give up its expansive territorial rights in Ukraine, which it believes are well-suited to secure as the conflict progresses and political divisions break out among Ukraine’s allies.

Zelenskyy in Kyiv stated that while he is still in favor of a US-led negotiation process, greater pressure must also be placed on Russia.

Putin does not yet feel the kind of pressure that should exist, he said, “but America must clearly say, if not diplomacy, then there will be full pressure.”

The US has also suggested a new format for discussions with Russia, which would involve three-way discussions with US national security advisers from Ukraine, Russia, and the US, according to the Ukrainian leader.

Zelenskyy questioned whether the discussions would lead to “anything new,” but said he would support trilateral discussions if they led to progress in a meeting of national leaders or prisoner swaps.

I cannot be opposed to a meeting that could be held right now to allow for the swapping of prisoners of war or if a meeting of national security advisers comes to an agreement on a leaders’ meeting. A US proposal like this would be welcomed by us. Let’s see how things turn out, he said.

In Istanbul in July, the last official direct exchange between the Ukrainian and Russian envoys took place, and this was followed by little else but prisoner swaps.

Putin praised Moscow’s successes on the battlefield in an annual news conference on Friday, promising to continue with his military offensive in Ukraine.

However, Zelenskyy objected to Putin’s suggestion that Russia might halt its devastating strikes on Ukraine and allow it to conduct presidential elections.

In addition, 30 people were hurt in the Black Sea Odesa region of Ukraine as a result of a quick Russian ballistic missile strike on port infrastructure that resulted in eight fatalities.

According to Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, a civilian bus was struck in the attack.

In recent weeks, Russian attacks on the coast region have caused havoc,  causing bridge damage and freezing temperatures for hundreds of thousands of people.

Moscow had previously stated that it would launch additional strikes on Ukrainian ports as retaliation for its sanctions-busting oil tankers.

The security service SBU reported on Saturday that Ukraine claimed to have destroyed two Russian fighter jets at a Russian-occupied airfield in Crimea. The Caspian Sea patrol ship and a Russian oil rig were struck by Kyiv’s army, according to the country’s army.

Putin referred to Russia’s initial, full-scale invasion of Ukraine as a “special military operation” to “demilitarise” the nation and stop NATO from growing.

The war, which is the largest and most deadly on European soil since World War II, is an unprovoked and illegal land grab, according to Kyiv and its European allies.

Source: Aljazeera