Ukraine and US envoys set for Miami talks on proposals to end war

Ukrainian officials are due to meet US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Miami on Friday, October 9, for talks on proposals to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, with European representatives expected to join. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the meeting was expected to last two days. The talks could help shape a proposal for the parties, but no agreement has been reported.

Reuters reported Thursday, citing an American source familiar with the plan, that the envoys would seek to produce a unified proposal. The source said US negotiators had begun developing new ideas with Russian and Ukrainian counterparts during a recent visit to the region. Reuters did not describe agreed terms, and the planned Miami session does not establish that either side has accepted a plan.

Who is expected at the Miami talks

Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s delegation would include his chief of staff, Kyrylo Budanov, along with Rustem Umerov, Sergiy Kyslytsya and David Arakhamia, according to DW. Reuters also named Budanov, Umerov and Arakhamia among the expected Ukrainian participants. Their involvement puts senior Ukrainian officials in the working session with Witkoff and Kushner, who have been trying to broker an end to the war.

The American source told Reuters that representatives of the White House National Security Council and the US Treasury Department would attend. US negotiators had also invited national security advisers from the United Kingdom, France and Germany, as well as officials from NATO and the European Union. An invitation does not, by itself, confirm who will ultimately take part; Zelenskyy said Ukraine was counting on a European team joining its negotiating group.

Security guarantees and a postwar plan on the agenda

The same source said the US was trying to mediate toward a unified proposal. European officials had told Washington of frustration with high energy costs and other financial effects of the conflict, the source added. Those concerns help explain why European representatives were invited, but Reuters did not report a shared European position on the terms of a settlement.

The diplomatic effort is taking place amid a disagreement over the state of the war. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the conflict as a stalemate, according to Reuters and DW. Zelenskyy rejected the characterization, DW reported, and urged Washington to expand Ukraine’s access to Starlink satellite service and impose tougher sanctions on Russia. Those are positions he pressed as the talks approached, not reported outcomes of the Miami meeting.

Civilian deaths underscore the stakes

The planned meeting follows deadly Russian strikes in Ukraine. Zelenskyy said more than 70 people had been killed in attacks over the preceding two days, DW reported. Its account included his statements about civilian deaths in Kramatorsk and the Chernihiv region. The figure is Zelenskyy’s account as reported by DW; the available material does not independently verify the toll.

Those attacks give the talks immediate urgency for people living under bombardment. They also show the limit of the diplomatic announcement: arranging a meeting has not stopped the fighting. Reuters described President Donald Trump’s efforts to arrange three-way talks between Russia, the United States and Ukraine as unsuccessful so far. A Miami working session with Ukrainian officials is a step in that effort, rather than an announced summit among the three countries.

What remains unresolved

The published reports establish the planned meeting, its expected participants and broad subjects for discussion. They do not report a ceasefire, a completed proposal, Russian acceptance of terms or a result from the Miami talks. Nor do they provide a confirmed schedule for a subsequent meeting with Russian officials. Whether Friday’s discussions produce a common negotiating position, and whether that position affects the fighting, remains open.