Kremlin envoy Kirill Dimitriev told reporters in the US that peace talks with Ukraine were proceeding “constructively” even as Russian forces launched a deadly missile attack on Ukraine’s southern port city of Odesa.
“The talks are proceeding constructively. They started earlier and will continue today, and will continue tomorrow,” Dimitriev told the press gathered for a meeting in Florida on Saturday.
Dimitriev met with US envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. That meeting came after the US completed separate meetings with Ukrainian representatives.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sounded concerned on Saturday about the state of peace talks.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have both met separately with US President Donald Trump. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP; Christian Bruna/Getty)
“The main question remains how the United States will respond after consultations with the Russians. Right now, I honestly don’t know, but I will know later today,” he said.
The Russian campaign against Ukraine has continued unabated despite the peace talks. A Saturday attack on Odesa killed eight people and injured 27 others.
Russian President Vladimir Putin noted on Friday that the country’s “troops are advancing,” and expressed confidence that Russia would achieve its goals through military force if Ukraine does not accept its peace terms.
Putin calls Trump’s peace plan a ‘starting point’ as he warns Ukraine to withdraw or face ‘force’
Jared Kushner, Steve Witkoff, Yuri Ushakov and Kirill Dmitriev arrive for talks with President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin Senate Palace in Moscow on December 2, 2025. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
“Our troops are advancing along the entire line of contact, faster in some areas or slower in others, but the enemy is retreating in all sectors,” Putin said during his annual press conference on Friday.
“The objectives of the special military operation will undoubtedly be achieved. We would prefer to achieve this and address the root causes of the conflict through diplomatic means,” he continued.
Ukrainian military members carry the coffin of Vasyl Ratushnyi, a Ukrainian soldier who served as a drone operator in the “Madyar’s Birds” unit and who died fighting with Russian troops on the front lines, during his funeral ceremony outside St. Michael’s Golden Domed Monastery in Kiev. ((Photo by ROMAN PILIPEY/AFP via Getty Images))
“However, if the opposing side and its foreign patrons refuse to engage in substantive dialogue, Russia will achieve the liberation of its historic territories by military means,” Putin stated.
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Russia’s peace terms have so far required Ukraine to give up large parts of their territory, including some territory not yet under Russian occupation.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
