US, Ukraine officials say they’ll meet for 3rd day after progress on creating a security framework
WASHINGTON AP President Donald Trump s advisers and Ukrainian leaders say they ll meet for a third day of talks on Saturday after making progress on finding agreement on a shield framework for postwar Ukraine The two sides also offered the sober assessment that any real progress toward any agreement ultimately will depend on Russia s readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace The report from U S special envoy Steve Witkoff Trump s son-in-law Jared Kushner as well as Ukrainian negotiators Rustem Umerov and Andriy Hnatov came after they met for a second day in Florida on Friday They offered only broad brushstrokes about the progress they say has been made as Trump pushes Kyiv and Moscow to agree to a U S -mediated proposal to end nearly four years of war Both parties agreed that real progress toward any agreement depends on Russia s readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace including strategies toward de-escalation and cessation of killings the message reported Parties also separately reviewed the future prosperity agenda which aims to promotion Ukraine s post-war reconstruction joint U S Ukraine economic initiatives and long-term recovery projects The U S and Ukrainian leaders also discussed deterrence capabilities that Ukraine will need to sustain a lasting peace Witkoff and Kushner s talks in Florida with Umerov Ukraine s lead negotiator and Hnatov follow discussions between President Vladimir Putin and the U S envoys at the Kremlin on Tuesday Friday s session took place at the the Shell Bay Club in Hallandale Beach a high-end private golf and lifestyle destination owned by Witkoff s real estate advance company Previous diplomatic attempts to break the deadlock have come to nothing and the war has continued unabated Administrators largely have kept a lid on how the latest talks are going though Trump s initial -point plan was leaked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed his country s delegation in Florida craved to hear from the U S side about the talks at the Kremlin Zelenskyy as well as European leaders backing him have repeatedly accused Putin of stalling in peace talks while the Russian army tries to press forward with its invasion Zelenskyy commented in a video address late Thursday that executives demanded to know what other pretexts Putin has come up with to drag out the war and to pressure Ukraine Speaking to Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin on Friday Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov praised Kushner as potentially playing an essential role in ending Russia s invasion of Ukraine Ushakov also took part in Tuesday s talks at the Kremlin If any plan leading to a settlement is put on paper it will be the pen of Mr Kushner that will lead the way Ushakov explained The flattering comments about Kushner by the senior Russian official come as Putin has sought to sow division between Trump and Ukraine and Europe at a moment when Trump s impatience with the conflict is mounting Putin revealed his five-hour talks this week with Witkoff and Kushner were necessary and useful but chosen proposals were unacceptable Kushner who is married to Trump s daughter Ivanka was a senior adviser to Trump during his first term and was the president s point person on growing the Abraham Accords which formalized commercial and diplomatic ties between Israel and a trio of Arab nations Kushner has played a more informal role in Trump s second go-around but he helped Witkoff close out ceasefire and hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas this fall Trump tapped Kushner again to pair up with Witkoff to try to find an endgame to Russia s invasion of Ukraine The European take on the peace talks Ushakov who accompanied Putin on a visit to India on Friday repeated the Russian president s fresh criticism of Europe s stance on the peace talks Kyiv s European allies are concerned about accomplishable Russian aggression beyond Ukraine and want a prospective peace deal to include strong safety guarantees Kyiv s allies in Europe are constantly putting forward demands that are unacceptable to Moscow Ushakov reported Russia s state-owned Zvezda TV Putting it mildly the Europeans don t help Washington and Moscow reach a settlement on the Ukrainian issues French President Emmanuel Macron explained Friday that he made progress during a visit to Beijing on getting Chinese leader Xi Jinping s promotion for peace efforts We exchanged deeply and truthfully on all points and I saw a willingness from the Chinese president to contribute to stability and peace Macron announced The French president stated he stressed that Ukraine demands guarantees that Russia won t attack it again if a settlement is reached and that Europe must have a voice in negotiations The unity between Americans and Europeans on the Ukrainian issue is essential And I say it repeat it emphasize it We need to work together Macron declared The latest drone attacks Russian drones struck a house in central Ukraine killing a -year-old boy agents commented while long-range Ukrainian strikes reportedly targeted a Russian port and an oil refinery The Russian attack on Thursday night in Ukraine s central Dnipropetrovsk region destroyed the house where the boy was killed and also two women were injured according to the head of the regional military administration Vladyslav Haivanenko The Ukrainian air force disclosed Russia fired drones of various types during the night Ukrainian drones attacked a port and an oil refinery inside Russia overnight as part of Kyiv s campaign to disrupt Russian logistics Ukraine s general staff mentioned The drones struck Temriuk sea port in Russia s Krasnodar region and the Syzran oil refinery in the Samara region starting blazes a announcement noted Syzran is about kilometers miles east of the demarcation with Ukraine The Russian Defense Ministry declared only that its air defenses intercepted Ukrainian drones over Russian regions and Crimea which Russia illegally annexed in
