Top Trump administration officials are meeting Ukrainian negotiators in Florida this weekend, pushing to broker an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine and setting the stage for key talks planned this week in Moscow with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of President Donald Trump, were expected to sit down with a Ukrainian delegation to further hash out the details of a proposed peace framework, talks that come at a sensitive moment for Ukraine as it continues to push back against Russian forces that invaded the country in 2022.
On Friday, just before the Florida sit-down, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the resignation of his powerful chief of staff, Andrii Yermak, who up until that point had been the country’s lead negotiator in talks with the US.
The announcement came after Yermak’s home was searched by anti-corruption investigators. Zelenskyy’s government has been roiled by fallout from a scandal over $100 million embezzled from the energy sector through kickbacks paid by contractors, causing newfound domestic pressures for Zelenskyy. It was only a week ago that Rubio had met with Yermak in Geneva, with each side saying the talks had been positive in putting together a revised peace plan.
Now, the Ukrainian delegation includes Andrii Hnatov, the head of Ukraine’s armed forces; Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine’s foreign minister; and Rustem Umerov, head of Ukraine’s security council, Zelenskyy has said.
Diplomats have been focused on revisions to Trump’s proposed 28-point plan developed in negotiations between Washington and Moscow. That plan was criticised as being too weighted toward Russian demands. It had initially been envisioned that Ukraine would cede the entire eastern region of the Donbas to Russia, a sticking point for Kyiv.
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