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
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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, had been anticipated to sit down down with a Ukrainian delegation to additional hash out the small print of a proposed peace framework — talks that come at a delicate second for Ukraine because it continues to push again towards 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 house 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 either side saying the talks had been constructive in placing collectively a revised peace plan.
Now, the Ukrainian delegation consists of Andrii Hnatov, the pinnacle of Ukraine’s armed forces; Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine’s international minister; and Rustem Umerov, head of Ukraine’s safety council, Zelenskyy has mentioned.
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 entire jap area of the Donbas to Russia — a sticking level for Kyiv.
The plan — which Trump has since downplayed as a “idea” 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, nevertheless it’s not clear how its provisions have been altered.
Trump mentioned on Tuesday that he would ship Witkoff and maybe Kushner to Moscow this week to satisfy 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 had 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 wanted to finish the battle.”
In his nightly handle on Saturday, Zelenskyy mentioned the American facet was “demonstrating a constructive method.”
“Within the coming days it’s possible to flesh out the steps to find out how you can carry the battle to a dignified finish,” he mentioned.
On Saturday, Russian drone and missile assaults in and round Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, killed at the very least three folks and wounded dozens extra, officers mentioned. Contemporary assaults in a single day into Sunday killed one particular person and wounded 19 others, together with 4 kids, native officers mentioned, when a drone hit a nine-story residence block within the metropolis of Vyshhorod within the Kyiv area.
In a publish on Telegram Sunday, Zelenskyy mentioned Russia had attacked Ukraine with 122 strike drones and ballistic missiles.
“Such assaults happen day by day. This week alone, Russians have used almost 1,400 strike drones, 1,100 guided aerial bombs and 66 missiles towards our folks. That’s the reason we should strengthen Ukraine’s resilience every single day. Missiles and air protection methods are needed, and we should additionally actively work with our companions for peace,” Zelenskyy mentioned.
“We want actual, dependable options that can assist finish the battle,” he added.
After Ukraine claimed duty for damaging a significant oil terminal on Saturday close to the Russian port of Novorossiysk, owned by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, Kazakhstan advised 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 motion harming the bilateral relations of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Ukraine, and we count on the Ukrainian facet to take efficient measures to forestall related incidents sooner or later,” Kazakhstan’s Overseas Ministry mentioned in an announcement.
