Witkoff says progress made on plan to end war with Russia

Senior Ukrainian and American negotiators called on Russia to show a “serious commitment to long-term peace” after talks in Moscow earlier this week failed to achieve a breakthrough.

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Rustam Umarov, Secretary of the Ukrainian National Security Council, issued this call after two days of “constructive discussions” in Florida.

They said in a statement that the possibility of ending the war in Ukraine depends on Russia’s “willingness” to take “steps towards stopping the escalation and stopping the killing.”

The negotiations, which are also attended by Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, continue for the third day on Saturday.

The statement on the occasion of the sixth round of discussions in two weeks stated that “ending the war and taking credible steps towards a ceasefire and reducing escalation are necessary to prevent renewed aggression.”

The Florida talks witnessed the Ukrainian team being briefed on the talks that took place between Trump’s chief envoy abroad and Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week.

Vitkov spent nearly five hours with Putin in Moscow on Tuesday, after which the Kremlin said no “compromise” had been reached on the draft US peace plan.

The Kremlin said Putin was ready to continue meeting with the Americans “as many times as needed,” but Ukraine and its allies in Europe questioned the Russian leader’s commitment to ending the war.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said on Friday that he wanted “to obtain complete information about what was said in Moscow and what other pretexts Putin gave to prolong the war.”

Kiev pushed for amendments to the US peace plan, which was widely seen as pro-Moscow when an initial version was leaked to the media. It has since undergone several changes, although the most recent version has not been shared publicly.

There remain major points of contention between the two sides, including Ukraine’s post-war security guarantees and territorial concessions.

Russia currently controls nearly a fifth of Ukraine’s territory, including large swaths of the Donbass region in the east – which consists of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

in Interview with India Today Putin on Friday warned Ukrainian forces against completely withdrawing from the region this week, saying Russia would “liberate” them otherwise. [Donbas] lands by force.

Ahead of the US visit to the Kremlin, Putin was photographed in military uniform at a Russian command post, where commanders briefed him on their claim to have captured the strategic city of Pokrovsk, in the Donetsk region, as well as other nearby settlements.

Ukraine rejects Russia’s claim that it has lost control of the city.

Kiev and its European allies believe that the most effective way to deter Russia from attacking again in the future is to grant Ukraine NATO membership, or provide comprehensive security guarantees.

Russia strongly opposes this, while Trump has repeatedly indicated that he has no intention of allowing Ukraine to join the military alliance.

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO was a “key issue” taken up in Moscow.

Trump said those talks were “reasonably good,” but it was too early to say what would happen. He said it was too early to say what would happen because “it takes two to tango.”