MIAMI — Ukrainian negotiators arrived in the U.S. for Miami talks with President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, son-in-law Jared Kushner and U.S. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll, an effort Kyiv says will focus on security guarantees and post-war recovery as the war with Russia nears its fourth year.
The mission underscores a dual-track push: Kyiv is seeking concrete assurances to deter a future Russian attack while confronting a punishing winter campaign that has battered Ukraine’s energy grid and left tens of thousands without heat and power.
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“Arrived in the United States,” Kyrylo Budanov, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s new chief of staff and head of the Ukrainian delegation, wrote on social media. He said he and his team — including security chief Rustem Umerov and negotiator David Arakhamia — would “have an important conversation with our American partners regarding the details of the peace agreement,” adding that “a joint meeting with Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, and (U.S. Army Secretary) Daniel Driscoll is planned.”
Trump has pushed for an end to what he has called Europe’s worst war since World War II and has voiced frustration with both sides, but no breakthrough is in sight. Russia’s advances in eastern Ukraine have accelerated since the fall, and the Kremlin insists it will seize the rest of the territory it claims as Russian by force if diplomacy fails.
Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S. said the talks would center on security guarantees and reconstruction. Those issues remain the sticking points between Kyiv and Washington, with Zelenskyy calling long-term guarantees vital to prevent a repeat invasion. The Ukrainian leader has said he hopes to sign documents with the Americans next week in Davos.
As diplomats prepare to meet, conditions at home are dire. Kyiv and the surrounding region have endured temperatures as low as minus 19 Celsius (minus 2 Fahrenheit) amid rolling outages. Authorities said 56,000 families in the Bucha area outside Kyiv — the site of Russian atrocities in 2022 — were without power following nighttime Russian attacks. Schools in the capital will remain closed until February over health concerns.
Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said most regions face power restrictions and declared a state of emergency in the energy sector “due to constant massive attacks by the Russian Federation.” The strikes, which intensified through the winter, have targeted power plants, substations and grid infrastructure across the country.
International security arrangements are central to Kyiv’s negotiating posture. The United Kingdom and France have signed a declaration of intent to deploy troops to Ukraine if a cease-fire takes hold, a step intended to bolster deterrence and support stabilization. The Kremlin has rejected that plan outright, warning any foreign forces would be “legitimate targets.”
Russia occupies swaths of southern and eastern Ukraine and continues to press along multiple fronts. Moscow said its forces captured two more villages in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions, claims that could not be independently verified.
The Miami talks come as Ukraine’s leadership seeks to align Western guarantees, a phased recovery plan and battlefield realities into a workable framework to end the war. Whether that effort gains traction may hinge on how far Washington and European capitals are willing to go — and whether Moscow sees any incentive to halt its campaign.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
