US, Russia to hold talks on Ukraine in Miami: White House

WASHINGTON: US and Russian officials will meet in Miami this weekend for new talks on President Donald Trump’s plan for ending the Ukraine war, a White House official told AFP Wednesday.

The talks come after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed progress during two days of meetings in Berlin between Kyiv and Trump’s envoys, while warning that Moscow was preparing for a “new year of war.”

Trump’s roving envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner are expected to take part on the US side, while Putin’s economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev is set to be in the Russian delegation, Politico reported.

The White House official did not give details of the US and Russian teams.

There has been a flurry of international diplomacy in recent weeks to end Russia’s nearly four-year-old invasion, with Witkoff and Kushner having met Putin in the Kremlin in November and the Ukrainians and European leaders in Berlin.

But large differences remain all around.

Ukraine and the United States say there has been progress on the question of future security guarantees for Kyiv, but there are disagreements on what territory Ukraine would have to cede.

Putin meanwhile said on Wednesday that Moscow would “certainly” achieve its objectives in the war, including seizing the territories it claims are its own.