U.S., Ukraine say Miami talks productive, despite no breakthrough

U.S. and Ukrainian envoys said they had held “productive and constructive” talks in Miami, but efforts to end Ukraine’s war with Russia appeared to be without a major breakthrough.

Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkov and Ukraine’s top negotiator Rustem Umerov issued a joint statement after three days of meetings with European allies.

The two said that the focus of the meeting was to coordinate positions on the 20-point plan, the “Multilateral Security Framework”, the “U.S. Security Framework for Ukraine” and the “Economy and Prosperity Plan”.

U.S. and Russian envoys Kirill Dmitriev held separate talks in Miami.

“Our common priority is to stop the killing, ensure security and create conditions for Ukraine’s recovery, stability and long-term prosperity,” Vitkov and Umerov said in a statement.

The meetings are the latest step in weeks of diplomatic activity, led by US 28-point peace plan leaked That alarmed Ukraine and its European allies as it appeared to favor Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly four years ago.

Witkov said Russian representatives met with him and other U.S. officials, including Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, in south Florida.

Vitkov said that the meeting with Russian envoy Dmitriev was also “productive and constructive” and “Russia remains fully committed to achieving peace in Ukraine.”

Trump has been pushing for a deal between Ukraine and Russia to end the war, but so far the two countries have been unable to agree on major issues, including Moscow’s demand to keep land it has occupied.

U.S. intelligence reports continue to warn Russian President Vladimir Putin still wants to seize all of Ukraine and reclaim parts of Europe that were part of the former Soviet empire, six sources familiar with U.S. intelligence told Reuters.

This is what I said later Putin told the BBC’s Steve Rosenberg If Russia were respected, there would be no more war after Ukraine.

“If you respect us, if you respect our interests, as we have always tried to respect your interests, there will be no action,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian drone strikes damaged two ships and two docks in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region, Russian officials said on Monday.

The damage caused a fire, but Russian authorities said all crew members were safely evacuated. Some reports said oil infrastructure was being targeted.