HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. — U.S. and Ukrainian officials met for roughly four hours Sunday in high-level talks aimed at finding an endgame for the Russia-Ukraine war. Sen. Marco Rubio described the session as productive, but warned that additional work is required to secure a peace that also ensures Ukraine’s long-term prosperity.
Rubio said the focus was not only on terms that would stop the fighting but also on provisions that would set Ukraine up for future stability and growth. He said the parties made progress in the meeting but that details still need to be worked out.
The U.S. delegation included Rubio, President Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. The meeting was held at the Shell Bay Club in Hallandale Beach, a golf and racket club developed by Witkoff. It took place days before Witkoff was set to travel to Moscow to meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Ukraine’s delegation included Rustem Umerov, head of the country’s security council, who thanked the United States for its support and said U.S. officials were listening and working alongside Ukraine. He stressed Kyiv’s aim of becoming a prosperous, strong country and said the talks addressed matters important to the Ukrainian people, without offering specifics on concessions or outcomes.
Diplomats have been revising a U.S. authored framework that critics say initially favored several Russian demands. That draft had reportedly proposed limits on the size of Ukraine’s military, a ban on NATO membership and a requirement that Ukraine hold elections within 100 days. It also at one point envisioned ceding the Donbas region to Russia, a major obstacle for Kyiv. Negotiators say the framework has been adjusted, but the precise changes have not been made public.
The talks occurred amid political turmoil in Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the resignation of his powerful chief of staff and lead negotiator, Andrii Yermak, after anti-corruption investigators searched Yermak’s home. Separately, the government is grappling with fallout from an alleged $100 million embezzlement scheme tied to the energy sector.
Also on Ukraine’s team were Andrii Hnatov, head of the armed forces, and presidential adviser Oleksandr Bevz. Rubio said he met with Yermak in Geneva last week, calling those discussions constructive in helping shape the revised plan.
President Trump said he would send Witkoff, and possibly Kushner, to Moscow to discuss the plan with Putin. The Kremlin indicated Putin could meet Witkoff before flying to India later this week. Witkoff and Kushner, both with backgrounds in real estate, have previously proposed peace initiatives in other conflicts, including a 20 point plan linked to a Gaza ceasefire.
Zelenskyy posted on X that the Ukrainian delegation would quickly and substantively work out steps needed to end the war. In his nightly address he said the American side was showing a constructive approach and that it may be possible in the coming days to flesh out steps toward a dignified end to the conflict.
Fighting continued as diplomats negotiated. Russian drone and missile strikes in and around Kyiv on Saturday killed at least three people and injured dozens, Ukrainian officials said. Overnight into Sunday a drone struck a nine story apartment block in Vyshhorod, killing one and wounding 19 people, including four children.
Zelenskyy reported that Russian forces struck Ukraine with dozens of strike drones and ballistic missiles over recent days, and he cited weekly totals of nearly 1,400 strike drones, about 1,100 guided aerial bombs and scores of missiles fired at Ukrainian territory.
Tensions also rose after Ukraine said it damaged an oil terminal near the Russian port of Novorossiysk, part of a terminal used by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium for Kazakhstan’s exports. Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry protested, saying the incident harmed bilateral ties and urging Ukraine to prevent similar actions in the future.
Reporters on the story included AP’s staff in Washington and London. The talks in Florida signaled movement on both sides, but major questions remain about core issues and whether a deal can meet Kyiv’s demands for sovereignty, security and long term prosperity while ending the fighting.
