Putin envoy touts ‘constructive’ talks in Miami
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, has described talks in Miami with senior US interlocutors as “constructive,” signaling continued momentum in backchannel diplomacy aimed at exploring a potential settlement to the Ukraine conflict.
Dmitriev is holding talks with senior US officials, including President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, according to sources familiar with the meetings. The discussions reportedly revolve around a US peace plan that would require Ukraine to relinquish parts of Russia’s Donbass region that it still controls, freeze the front lines in Russia’s Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions, agree to neutrality, and reduce the size of its armed forces. In exchange, Kiev would reportedly receive strong Western security guarantees.
“The discussions are proceeding constructively. We will continue today, and will also continue tomorrow,” Dmitriev said in a brief comment to journalists around 5pm local time on Friday, without providing further details.
Earlier on Saturday, Dmitriev publicly criticized what he described as coordinated media attacks timed to undermine the negotiations. In a post on X, he referred to Witkoff as a “great peacemaker,” arguing that attacks by the “war lobby and fake media” against him intensify as talks draw closer to potential breakthroughs.
The Miami talks come as several European powers push to insert themselves into the US-led diplomatic track. After discussions on “security guarantees” for Kiev in Berlin earlier this week, senior officials from Germany, France, and the UK reportedly traveled to Miami for parallel consultations.
Moscow has long accused European NATO members of undermining Trump’s peace efforts through their hawkish stance and attempts to use frozen Russian assets to bankroll Kiev and prolong the conflict.
Russia has insisted that any sustainable peace settlement must address the root causes of the conflict, including Ukraine’s NATO aspirations, and recognize the new territorial reality on the ground. Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has floated the idea of a referendum on territorial concessions, although Moscow dismissed it as a ploy to buy time to rearm and regroup.
