Russia\u2019s chief Ukraine negotiator Kirill Dmitriev flew to Florida on the eve of peace talks in Abu Dhabi planned for Sunday<\/p>\n
Russian President Vladimir Putin\u2019s envoy Kirill Dmitriev has said he held a \u201cconstructive\u201d meeting with a US delegation in\u00a0Florida\u00a0ahead of a new round of Russia-Ukraine negotiations planned for Sunday.
\nDmitriev arrived in the US earlier on Saturday, with Moscow issuing no prior announcement. He teased the visit by posting a social media map showing his plane approaching Miami.
\n\u201cConstructive meeting with the US peacemaking delegation. Productive discussion also on the U.S.\u2013Russia Economic Working Group,\u201d Dmitriev wrote on X.
\nUS Special Envoy Steve Witkoff also described the meeting in Florida on Saturday as \u201cproductive,\u201d saying it formed part of Washington\u2019s mediation efforts to end the Ukraine conflict. In a separate post on X, he said the talks encouraged Washington that Moscow was \u201cworking toward securing peace,\u201d and thanked President Donald Trump for what he called \u201ccritical leadership\u201d in pursuing a lasting settlement.
\nAccording to Witkoff, he was joined at the meeting by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Jared Kushner, and White House Senior Advisor Josh Gruenbaum.<\/p>\n
Constructive meeting with the US peacemaking delegation. Productive discussion also on the U.S.\u2013Russia Economic Working Group. \ud83d\udd4a\ufe0f https:\/\/t.co\/qrKMIdXjJO\u2014 Kirill Dmitriev (@kadmitriev) January 31, 2026 <\/p>\n
The visit came ahead of a new round of US-mediated talks between Russia and Ukraine scheduled to take place in Abu Dhabi. The previous round, held on January 23-24, marked the first trilateral format and was described by all sides as \u201cvery constructive.\u201d
\nFollowing those talks, negotiators acknowledged that territorial issues remain the main obstacle to a peace agreement. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said \u201cit\u2019s still a bridge we haven\u2019t crossed,\u201d adding that \u201cthere\u2019s active work going on to try and see if both sides\u2019 views on that can be reconciled.\u201d Moscow insists any settlement must include Ukraine\u2019s withdrawal from Donbass regions that voted to join Russia in 2022 referendums and recognition of the country\u2019s new borders, including Crimea. Kiev has rejected any territorial concessions.<\/p>\n
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While the upcoming Abu Dhabi talks have been described as trilateral, Rubio said earlier that US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner \u2013 Washington\u2019s main negotiators in the Ukraine peace process \u2013 will not attend, though \u201cthere might be a US presence.\u201d
\nUkraine\u2019s Vladimir Zelensky said on Friday he was unsure whether Sunday\u2019s meeting with Russian negotiators would go ahead, claiming the date or venue could change amid rising US-Iran tensions after Washington deployed a naval \u201carmada\u201d to pressure Tehran into nuclear talks. No official changes have been announced, however. Russian officials have long questioned Kiev\u2019s commitment to peace, accusing it of refusing to compromise while making unacceptable demands.<\/p>\n
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Moscow has said it remains open to a diplomatic settlement but warned it would achieve its objectives militarily if talks fail, noting it continues to have the battlefield initiative. On Friday, it agreed to suspend long-range strikes on Kiev at the personal request of US President Donald Trump to create \u201cfavorable conditions\u201d for the next round of talks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Russia\u2019s chief Ukraine negotiator Kirill Dmitriev flew to Florida on the eve of peace talks in Abu Dhabi planned for Sunday Russian President Vladimir Putin\u2019s envoy Kirill Dmitriev has said…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27864,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t