Ukrainian, US delegates hold another round of talks as Russian team meets Americans in Miami
Editor's Note: This is a developing story.
Ukrainian delegates will sit down with U.S. representatives for another round of peace talks on Dec. 21, Rustem Umerov, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, announced.
The meeting is part of ongoing diplomatic negotiations in Washington's latest push to secure a peace deal. It follows Ukrainian-U.S. talks on Dec. 19 and Russian-U.S. talks on Dec. 20 in Miami. The Russian team is also expected to meet with U.S. delegates again on Dec. 21.
The Kremlin has denied reports of possible trilateral talks among Ukrainian, American, and Russian teams.
Umerov, the leader of the Ukrainian delegation, said he would hold another meeting with the U.S. team alongside General Andrii Hnatov, chief of Ukraine's General Staff.
"The third day of work in the United States. ... We are working constructively and substantively," he wrote on social media. "We look forward to further progress and practical results."
Umerov made no mention of the Russian delegation in his announcement.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said he expected a full report on the outcome of the talks from his representatives in Miami and that the negotiators were discussing timelines for implementing aspects of a peace agreement.
"Work is continuing on documents concerning the end of the war, security guarantees, and reconstruction," the president said in his evening address on Dec. 21.
"Each point is being discussed in detail, and there is constructive dialogue with the American side. This is important. They are also discussing timing — the possible timeframes for various decisions."
The Miami peace talks follow a summit of Ukrainian, U.S., and European officials in Berlin to discuss revisions to a U.S.-backed peace plan. The talks reportedly focused on "Article 5-like" security guarantees for Ukraine as well as postwar recovery and reconstruction funding.
The American negotiationg team is led by U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Zelensky told reporters on Dec. 20 that Kyiv's top priority in the ongoing negotiations is the status of Ukrainian territories.
"The most difficult issues were and remain Ukraine's territories," he said. "Next is the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, our ZNPP. The third issue is money for reconstruction," the president said.
Moscow continues to seek major territorial concessions, calling on Ukraine to give up the entire Donbas region, including both Russian-occupied territories and areas still under Ukrainian control.
