US envoy Steve Witkoff said on Saturday that he had held constructive talks with a Russian counterpart in Florida as part of Washington’s efforts to bring an end to the war in Ukraine.
The meeting took place a day before Ukrainian and Russian negotiators were due to meet in Abu Dhabi to discuss a US-backed proposal aimed at ending the nearly four-year conflict.
“Today in Florida, Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev held productive and constructive meetings as part of the US mediation effort to advance a peaceful resolution of the Ukrainian conflict,” Witkoff wrote in a post on X.
“We are encouraged by this meeting and by indications that Russia is working towards securing peace in Ukraine,” he added.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and White House senior adviser Josh Gruenbaum were also present at the talks, Witkoff said.
Earlier on Saturday, a source close to the discussions told AFP that the talks had begun at 8.00am (1300 GMT) and that Dmitriev had arrived in Miami.
Neither side disclosed details of what was discussed.
Dmitriev, President Vladimir Putin’s chief economic envoy, previously met Witkoff and Kushner in January on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
He also held talks with US negotiators on Ukraine during a visit to Miami in December.
A second round of talks in Abu Dhabi is scheduled to begin on Sunday, although Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested earlier this week that the meeting could be postponed because of the crisis between the United States and Iran.
Ukrainian and Russian delegations met last Friday and Saturday in Abu Dhabi for their first face-to-face negotiations on a plan promoted by President Donald Trump to end the war.
The United States says both sides are close to an agreement, but Kyiv says they remain divided over the central issue of territory in any post-war settlement.
The Kremlin said on Friday that President Vladimir Putin had agreed to pause strikes on Kyiv until Sunday following a request from his US counterpart, Donald Trump.
