U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said he held “productive and constructive” talks Friday in Florida with Russian Special Envoy Kirill Dmitriev, a meeting that comes on the eve of a new round of Ukraine peace talks in Abu Dhabi backed by Washington.
“Today in Florida, the Russian Special Envoy Kirill Dmitriev held productive and constructive meetings as part of the U.S. mediation effort toward advancing a peaceful resolution of the Ukrainian conflict,” Witkoff posted on X, adding, “We are encouraged by this meeting that Russia is working toward securing peace in Ukraine.”
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The session began at 8 a.m. local time (1 p.m. GMT), according to a source close to the talks, who said Dmitriev had arrived in Miami. Neither side released details of what was discussed.
The Florida meeting adds urgency and momentum to U.S.-led diplomacy ahead of Sunday’s planned second round of in-person negotiations in Abu Dhabi between Ukrainian and Russian delegations on a U.S.-backed plan to end the nearly four-year Ukraine war. Teams from both countries met there last week on Friday and Saturday for their first face-to-face discussions under the framework, which is being pushed by President Donald Trump, U.S. officials say.
Kyiv has said the sides remain apart on the most difficult issue: how to resolve questions of territory in any post-war settlement. Washington says a deal is within reach, but the path forward hinges on bridging that gap, according to Ukrainian officials.
Uncertainty still hangs over the Abu Dhabi timetable. Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested the talks could be postponed because of the U.S.-Iran crisis. As of Friday, the negotiations were still slated to resume Sunday, according to people briefed on the planning.
The Kremlin said Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to a pause on striking Kyiv—ending Sunday—following a request by his U.S. counterpart, Trump. Any extension of that pause was not immediately clear.
Dmitriev, Putin’s top economic envoy, has been a recurring interlocutor in recent months. He met Witkoff and Mr. Kushner in January on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and held talks with U.S. negotiators in Miami in December.
The Florida discussions underscore the U.S. effort to keep channels open with Moscow while pressing for a framework that can halt fighting and set terms for a broader settlement. The stakes are high: a workable agreement would need to address security guarantees, prisoner exchanges, humanitarian access and long-term reconstruction, in addition to the core territorial dispute.
For now, both Washington and Moscow are keeping the substance of their private exchanges closely held. The lack of public detail reflects the fragility of the process—and the political risks for all parties if expectations race ahead of what negotiators can secure at the table.
Even so, the quick succession of meetings—from Miami to Abu Dhabi—signals a bid to convert tentative openings into concrete steps. Whether Sunday’s session proceeds on schedule, and whether the pause in strikes on Kyiv holds, will offer an early test of how much leverage the U.S. and its partners have to steer the war toward de-escalation.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
