Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner met with Ukrainian negotiators in Florida on Sunday to build on recent peace talks in Geneva and hammer out remaining details of the deal reached last week.
“The end goal is obviously not just the end of the war. That is obviously essential and fundamental. We want to see the end of the killing, the death and the suffering, and I’m sure the Ukrainian side does that too,” Rubio said in an opening statement. “They want peace. But it is also about securing an end to the war that will leave Ukraine sovereign, independent and with a chance for real prosperity.”
Rustem Umerov, the head of the Ukrainian delegation and secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, thanked his US counterparts and Trump for their efforts to end the war and said he looked forward to a productive meeting.
The meeting in Florida comes after Andriy Yermak, Ukraine’s top negotiator, resigned on Friday after anti-corruption agencies raided his home. Ukraine has been involved in an alleged $100 million bribery corruption scheme linked to state nuclear energy company Energoatom.
ZELENSKYY WARNS UKRAINE OF ‘DIFFICULT CHOICE’ AS UNITED STATES PEACE PLAN FACES MAJOR HINDERS
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov attends a session of the Coalition of the Willing during a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels on April 10, 2025. (Omar Havana/Getty)
“The dialogue based on the Geneva points will continue. Diplomacy remains active. The American side is showing a constructive approach, and in the coming days it is feasible to work out the steps to determine how to bring the war to a dignified end,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. “The Ukrainian delegation has the necessary guidelines in place and I expect the boys to work in accordance with clear Ukrainian priorities.”
Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko and Energy Minister Svitlana Grynchuk submitted their resignations on November 12, 2025. (Thierry Monasse/Getty Images; Andrii Nesterenko/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
RUSSIA BOMBERS Kiev, KILLING AT LEAST 6, AS TRUMP’S PEACE PLAN ADVANCES
Witkoff is expected to travel to Moscow this week to discuss the updated peace framework reportedly at 19 points instead of the original 28, which was criticized by European leaders as too favorable to the Kremlin.
This was suggested by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Moscow could refuse the White House’s latest peace deal in Ukraine if it does not uphold the “spirit and letter” of the agreements reached during the Alaska summit in August between Trump and Vladimir Putin.
He warned that if the terms of the “important agreements” were “extinguished”, the situation would become “fundamentally different”.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov listens to North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui during their talks in Pyongyang, North Korea, on October 19, 2023. (Telegram channel of the Russian Foreign Ministry via AP)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Russia has maintained its maximalist demands during the negotiations, insisting that Ukraine be excluded from joining NATO and give up the rest of the Donbas region as part of an agreement.
The Kremlin has continued its drone and missile attacks even as negotiations progress. Zelensky said on Sunday that Russia had fired nearly 1,400 attack drones, 1,100 guided aerial bombs and 66 missiles at Ukraine in the past week alone.
