American, Ukrainian and European officials are gathering in the United States for a renewed diplomatic effort aimed at bringing Russia’s war in Ukraine to an end.
The talks, hosted by Washington, come as the conflict settles into a perilous deadlock and the United States searches for a path toward negotiations.
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US President Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are expected to spend two days in Miami meeting Ukrainian negotiators and European representatives. The discussions will focus on shaping a joint framework for ending the war, US officials said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said yesterday that the conflict had entered a potentially volatile phase, warning that the absence of a negotiated settlement increased the danger of further escalation.
“We do not believe that there is a military solution to this conflict,” he said.
His remarks came as Russian strikes killed three people and injured at least eight across Ukraine, officials said. Kyiv has struggled to contain an intensifying wave of Russian bombardments that has killed more than 50 people in the past three days.
One man was killed and five people were wounded in strikes on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region this morning, Mykhailo Semikin, head of the regional military administration, said.
The attacks struck residential areas, and a child was among those injured, he said.
In western Ukraine, another man was killed in the city of Ivano-Frankivsk, Svitlana Onyshchuk, head of the regional military administration, reported.
A woman also died in a Russian attack on warehouse facilities in the Bucha district of the Kyiv region, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry said.
Her body was discovered as emergency crews cleared rubble and battled a fire at the site, Tymur Tkachenko, head of the regional military administration, said. Three people were wounded in the attack.
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In Russia, meanwhile, a Ukrainian attack in the eastern Belgorod region killed two people today, the area’s regional emergency headquarters said.
Regional governor Alexander Shuvayev said 12 people had also been wounded in Ukrainian strikes.
Russian forces have killed dozens of civilians in Ukraine over the past three days in attacks involving ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones.
Yesterday, a Russian guided bomb detonated beside passenger buses in eastern Ukraine, killing 30 people.
A day earlier, a Russian missile strike killed 22 people, including five children, in the northern Ukrainian town of Pryluky.
New hopes for peace
The Miami meeting follows trips to Moscow and Kyiv last month by Mr Witkoff, a longtime ally of Mr Trump, and Mr Kushner, the president’s son-in-law. Washington is attempting to revive negotiations that have so far produced little tangible progress.
Since then, US negotiators have been working with Russian and Ukrainian officials on a new set of proposals, a source said.
One option under consideration is a limited ceasefire covering strikes on energy infrastructure as winter approaches.
Mr Trump’s repeated efforts to broker peace have stalled over Moscow’s extensive territorial demands. Russia has insisted on gaining control of the entire eastern Donbas region, including territory that remains in Ukrainian hands.
Mr Zelensky has ruled out giving up Ukrainian-held land, warning that Russia could use any concession as a launching point for a future assault.
Russia, which began its full-scale invasion in February 2022, controls roughly one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory.
Ukraine’s delegation is expected to include Mr Zelensky’s chief of staff Kyrylo Budanov and intelligence chief Rustem Umerov, as well as senior negotiators Sergiy Kyslytsya and David Arakhamia.
The US administration hopes to achieve diplomatic progress before November’s midterm elections. Washington is also seeking to convene wider Russia-Ukraine discussions later this month.
The Kremlin has indicated that three-way negotiations could restart in October, although no date has been set.
Firefighters at the burnt shell of a passenger bus following a Russian missile strike in Kramatorsk
Call for Starlink access
Mr Zelensky has meanwhile pressed the United States to approve his requests for expanded Ukrainian access to the Starlink satellite network, which he says could help Ukraine target Russian ballistic-missile launchers.
“Open Starlink for Ukraine. You did open it when you were responding to Iran … I’ve said quite openly – give it to us, help us defend our skies and dominate there. And then Putin will sit down at the negotiating table,” he said in a statement.
Ukraine has sought in recent months to regain the initiative on the battlefield as Russia’s advances have slowed this year. Even so, the country remains exposed to deadly Russian attacks.
“So where’s the truth here, where’s the honesty? Where’s the stalemate?… That’s called unwillingness,” he said, responding to Mr Rubio’s claim yesterday that the war was deadlocked and that the United States would continue pursuing a settlement.
“One cannot, on the one hand, negotiate with the Russians about future economic projects, whilst on the other hand say that we find ourselves in some sort of… diplomatic stalemate,” Mr Zelensky added.
Donald Trump said this week that he had a call scheduled with Russian President Vladimir Putin
The Miami discussions are also expected to address security guarantees intended to shield Ukraine from future Russian aggression, as well as plans for rebuilding the country’s economy after the war, US officials said.
National security advisers from Britain, France and Germany have been invited, together with representatives of NATO and the European Union.
US sources said European officials had raised concerns about soaring energy costs and the broader economic impact of the conflict.
Mr Trump said earlier this week that he expected to speak by telephone with Russian President Vladimir Putin, although it was not clear whether Ukraine would be discussed.
Additional reporting PA, Reuters
