U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio talks to the press on the U.S. Mission to Worldwide Organizations in Geneva, Switzerland, Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025.
Martial Trezzini/Keystone/AP
disguise caption
toggle caption
Martial Trezzini/Keystone/AP
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Prime Trump administration officers are assembly Ukrainian negotiators in Florida this weekend, pushing to dealer an finish to Russia’s battle in Ukraine and setting the stage for key talks deliberate this week in Moscow with Russian chief Vladimir Putin.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Particular Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump, have been anticipated to take a seat down with a Ukrainian delegation to additional hash out the main points of a proposed peace framework — talks that come at a delicate second for Ukraine because it continues to push again in opposition to Russian forces that invaded the nation in 2022.
On Friday, simply earlier than the Florida sit-down, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy introduced the resignation of his highly effective chief of employees, Andrii Yermak, who up till that time had been the nation’s lead negotiator in talks with the U.S.
The announcement got here after Yermak’s residence was searched by anti-corruption investigators. Zelenskyy’s authorities has been roiled by fallout from a scandal over $100 million embezzled from the vitality sector via kickbacks paid by contractors, inflicting newfound home pressures for Zelenskyy.
It was solely per week in the past that Rubio had met with Yermak in Geneva, with both sides saying the talks had been optimistic in placing collectively a revised peace plan.
Now, the Ukrainian delegation contains Andrii Hnatov, the pinnacle of Ukraine’s armed forces; Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine’s overseas minister; and Rustem Umerov, head of Ukraine’s safety council, Zelenskyy has stated.
Diplomats have been centered on revisions to Trump’s proposed 28-point plan developed in negotiations between Washington and Moscow. That plan was criticized as being too weighted towards Russian calls for. It had initially envisioned Ukraine ceding your complete japanese area of the Donbas to Russia — a sticking level for Kyiv.
The plan — which Trump has since downplayed as a “concept” or a “map” to be “fine-tuned” — would additionally impose limits on the scale of Ukraine’s army, block the nation from becoming a member of NATO, and require Ukraine to carry elections in 100 days. Negotiators have indicated the framework has modified, but it surely’s not clear how its provisions have been altered.
Trump stated on Tuesday that he would ship Witkoff and maybe Kushner to Moscow this week to fulfill with Putin concerning the plan. Each Witkoff and Kushner, like Trump, hail from the world of actual property that values dealmaking over the conventions of diplomacy. The pair additionally have been behind a 20-point proposal that led to a ceasefire in Gaza.
Zelenskyy wrote on X that the Ukrainian delegation would “swiftly and substantively work out the steps needed to end the war.”
In his nightly handle on Saturday, Zelenskyy stated the American facet was “demonstrating a constructive approach.”
“In the coming days it is feasible to flesh out the steps to determine how to bring the war to a dignified end,” he stated.
On Saturday, Russian drone and missile assaults in and round Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, killed at the least three folks and wounded dozens extra, officers stated. Contemporary assaults in a single day into Sunday killed one individual and wounded 19 others, together with 4 kids, native officers stated, when a drone hit a nine-story condo block within the metropolis of Vyshhorod within the Kyiv area.
In a submit on Telegram Sunday, Zelenskyy stated Russia had attacked Ukraine with 122 strike drones and ballistic missiles.
“Such attacks occur daily. This week alone, Russians have used nearly 1,400 strike drones, 1,100 guided aerial bombs and 66 missiles against our people. That is why we must strengthen Ukraine’s resilience every day. Missiles and air defense systems are necessary, and we must also actively work with our partners for peace,” Zelenskyy stated.
“We need real, reliable solutions that will help end the war,” he added.
After Ukraine claimed duty for damaging a serious oil terminal on Saturday close to the Russian port of Novorossiysk, owned by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, Kazakhstan informed Ukraine on Sunday to cease attacking the Black Sea terminal. The CPC pipeline, which begins in Kazakhstan and ends on the Novorossisyk terminal, handles a big proportion of Kazakhstan’s oil exports.
“We view what has occurred as an action harming the bilateral relations of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Ukraine, and we expect the Ukrainian side to take effective measures to prevent similar incidents in the future,” Kazakhstan’s International Ministry stated in a press release.
