A White House envoy said Sunday he held 鈥減roductive and constructive鈥� talks in Florida with Ukrainian and European representatives to end the nearly four-year .
Posting on social media, Steve Witkoff said the talks aimed at aligning on a shared strategic approach between Ukraine, the United States and Europe.
鈥淥ur shared priority is to stop the killing, ensure guaranteed security, and create conditions for Ukraine鈥檚 recovery, stability, and long-term prosperity. Peace must be not only a cessation of hostilities, but also a dignified foundation for a stable future,” U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy said.
The talks are part of the Trump administration鈥檚 monthslong push for peace. Trump has unleashed an extensive to end the war, but his efforts have run into sharply by Moscow and Kyiv. Putin has recently signaled , as Moscow鈥檚 troops inch forward on the battlefield despite huge losses.
Positive assessments
Witkoff’s assessment comes as negotiations have been proceeding with Russia as well. A Kremlin envoy said Saturday that the talks were pressing on 鈥渃onstructively鈥� in Florida.
鈥淭he discussions are proceeding constructively. They began earlier and will continue today, and will also continue tomorrow,鈥� told reporters in Miami on Saturday. There were no immediate updates on the talks with Russia on Sunday.
Dmitriev met with Witkoff and Trump鈥檚 son-in-law Jared Kushner, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported.
For Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram Sunday that diplomatic efforts were 鈥渕oving forward quite quickly, and our team in Florida has been working with the American side.鈥�
The Kremlin denied Sunday that trilateral talks involving Ukraine, Russia and the U.S. were under discussion, after Zelenskyy said Saturday that Washington had proposed the idea of three-way discussions.
鈥淎t present, no one has seriously discussed this initiative, and to my knowledge it is not being prepared,鈥� Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said, according to Russian state news agencies.
Ukrainian civilians moved to Russia
In Ukraine, the country鈥檚 human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets on Sunday accused Russian forces of forcibly removing about 50 Ukrainian civilians from the Ukrainian Sumy border region to Russian territory.
Writing on Telegram, he said that Russian forces illegally detained the residents in the village of Hrabovske on Thursday, before moving them to Russia on Saturday.
Lubinets said he contacted Russia鈥檚 human rights commissioner, requesting information on the civilians鈥� whereabouts and conditions, and demanding their immediate return to Ukraine.
Possible French-Russian talks
The French presidency on Sunday welcomed Putin鈥檚 willingness to speak with President , saying it would decide how to proceed 鈥渋n the coming days.鈥�
鈥淎s soon as the prospect of a ceasefire and peace negotiations becomes clearer, it becomes useful again to speak with Putin,鈥� Macron鈥檚 office said in a statement. 鈥淚t is welcome that the Kremlin publicly agrees to this approach.鈥�
The statement came after reports that Putin was open to holding talks with the French president if there was mutual political will.
agreed on Friday to provide 90 billion euros ($106 billion) to Ukraine to meet its military and economic needs for the next two years, although they failed to bridge differences with Belgium that would have allowed them to to raise the funds. Instead, they were borrowed from capital markets.
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