MIAMI — U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff held two days of “productive” talks with Ukraine’s senior negotiator Rustem Umerov in Miami and will meet again, U.S. officials said Friday, as the delegation and Ukrainian leaders pressed to translate recent diplomacy with Moscow into a durable cease-fire.
Witkoff, who met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow this week alongside President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Kushner held what the State Department and Ukrainian officials described as “constructive discussions” with Umerov and Gen. Andriy Hnatov, Ukraine’s chief of general staff. The Miami session was the sixth meeting between the teams in two weeks.
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The parties discussed the outcomes of the Moscow talks and “the framework of security arrangements and necessary deterrence capabilities to sustain a lasting peace,” the State Department said, without providing further details. Umerov reiterated that Ukraine’s priority is any settlement that protects its independence and sovereignty, ensures the safety of Ukrainians and provides a stable foundation for a democratic future, the joint statement said.
U.S. and Ukrainian officials stressed that progress toward any agreement would hinge on Russia’s willingness to show a “serious commitment to long-term peace,” including concrete steps toward de-escalation and an end to killings, the statement added. They also discussed post-war reconstruction, joint economic initiatives and long-term recovery projects.
Witkoff and Kushner spent about five hours with Putin in the Kremlin this week on a U.S.-backed plan for a settlement to end the war that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said the meeting produced a level of understanding that made the discussions “truly friendly,” and Putin called the talks “very useful.”
The White House said the Miami meetings were productive and that “progress was made.” A U.S. official familiar with the talks said Witkoff and Kushner had agreed to brief their Ukrainian counterparts after meeting Putin.
The diplomacy came as Russian forces launched a major overnight attack on Ukrainian infrastructure. Kyiv’s air force said Russia struck with 653 drones and 51 missiles, targeting energy facilities and transport hubs across the country and triggering power, heating and water outages.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the main targets were energy facilities and accused Moscow of seeking to “inflict suffering on millions of Ukrainians.” A drone strike burned the main railway station building in Fastiv, about 70 kilometers southwest of Kyiv; Ukrzaliznytsya, the state rail operator, said there were no casualties but suburban service was disrupted.
Officials in the Odesa region reported 9,500 subscribers without heating and 34,000 without water after the strikes. Restoration Minister Oleksiy Kuleba and Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said emergency coordination and rolling power outages would be required while repairs were carried out.
Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukraine’s power and heating grid since February 2022, destroying large parts of civilian infrastructure, even as international efforts continue to seek a negotiated end to the conflict.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
