Ukraine's Umerov meets Trump envoy Witkoff again after Florida talks, White House says
U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff held another meeting with Ukrainian negotiator and top security official Rustem Umerov in Florida, a White House official told the Kyiv Independent on Dec. 1.
The discussion, their second meeting in two days, took place because "there are still questions" about the U.S.-backed peace plan for Ukraine, according to undisclosed sources who spoke to AFP.
Witkoff, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump, held talks on the latest peace effort with a Ukrainian delegation led by National Security and Defense Council Secretary Umerov in Hallandale Beach, north of Miami, on Nov. 30.
The two sides met to continue negotiations on the U.S.-backed peace plan, whose original 28 points, unveiled in November, imposed punishing conditions on Kyiv, including a limit on its army, a ban on joining NATO, and recognition of Russian occupation.
Ukraine has sought to revise the proposal in talks with Washington, initially during consultations in Geneva on Nov. 23 and subsequently in Florida.
In a press briefing following the Nov. 30 meeting, Rubio praised it as "very productive," adding that the talks focused on both the terms to end the war and Ukraine's "long-term prosperity."
President Volodymyr Zelensky described the meeting as "constructive" but said there "are some tough issues that still have to be worked through."
Umerov, who was initially expected to meet with Zelensky in Paris on Dec. 1 to report on the outcome of the talks, is now scheduled to meet with the president in Ireland on Dec. 2 instead, AFP reported.
The National Security and Defense Council secretary confirmed that he plans to provide a "full report" to Zelensky during a meeting in Europe, where the Ukrainian delegation is already traveling.
Witkoff, meanwhile, is set to continue negotiations with the Russian side. The White House official confirmed that the envoy will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Dec. 2.
