U.S. presidential envoy Steve Witkoff will meet Russian envoy Kiril Dimitriev, head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and a close representative of President Vladimir Putin, in Miami on Saturday for continued talks on the U.S.-proposed peace plan regarding Ukraine.
The Miami meeting follows two days of negotiations in Berlin earlier this week between U.S. and Ukrainian officials, with European diplomats joining the process. Despite the expanded format, there is little expectation that the stalled peace process will shift meaningfully.
Reports indicate the United States has begun to consider offering Ukraine NATO-style security guarantees, though without requiring Kiev to abandon its long-term aspirations to formally join NATO. Asked Thursday about U.S. resistance to Ukraine’s membership, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky responded, “The United States does not currently see us in NATO.… Presidents come and go, and even die,” a remark widely interpreted as suggesting Kiev and European officials believe Trump’s successor may reverse course and re-embrace Ukraine.
The sticking points remain substantial. Zelensky continues to reject territorial concessions and insists Ukraine will “never give up its territory,” while Moscow has reiterated it will not drop its war objectives. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that Russia “had not changed its stance on the conflict and the achievement of its military goals.”
It also remains unclear how much the original 28-point peace proposal drafted by the Trump administration last month has evolved. When Witkoff and Trump adviser Jared Kushner met Putin earlier this month, five separate documents reportedly emerged from the talks, and subsequent revisions are expected.
Witkoff, who has already traveled to Moscow numerous times this year to consult directly with Putin, requesting instead that Dimitriev come to Miami may signal diminished expectations for Saturday’s meeting—or a tactical pause to avoid presenting a proposal likely to be rejected outright should it be brought to the Kremlin.