US sees progress after latest Ukraine talks as Trump envoy heads to Russia

Diplomats faced an uphill battle to reconcile Russian and Ukrainian positions as a renewed US-led push to end the more than three-year war gathered steam, with Ukrainian officials attending talks in the US over the weekend and a Washington official expected in Moscow this week.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with a Ukrainian delegation led by a new chief negotiator in Florida, his home state, for talks that he said were meant to create a pathway for Ukraine to remain sovereign and independent.

“We continue to be realistic about how difficult this is, but optimistic, particularly given the fact that as we’ve made progress, I think there is a shared vision here that this is not just about ending the war,” Rubio told reporters after the talks concluded on Sunday. “It is about securing Ukraine’s future, a future that we hope will be more prosperous than it’s ever been.”

The discussions were a follow-up to a new set of negotiations that began with a fresh US blueprint for peace. Critics said the plan initially favoured Russia, which started the conflict with a 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Special envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, were also present representing the US side. Witkoff was expected to leave on Monday for Moscow, where he would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin for talks on Tuesday, the Kremlin said.