During the negotiations between the U.S. and Ukraine on Sunday, the main focus was on determining where exactly the border stipulated in the peace agreement with Russia would be, reports the online publication Axios, citing two anonymous sources in Ukraine.
They characterized the five-hour meeting in Florida as complex and tense, but productive.
As Axios reminds us, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is set to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff on Tuesday, insists that Russia will not stop until it establishes full control over all of Donbas.
According to Axios, the U.S. wants Ukraine to concede these territories to convince Putin to make peace; however, for Kyiv, this would be a "painful and politically explosive concession."
The publication reports that after hours of negotiations, the meeting continued in a smaller format — with three representatives from each side. According to information from two Ukrainian sources, the line of territorial control was practically the only topic discussed.
From the U.S. side, Witkoff, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Trump's advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner participated in the negotiations. Ukraine was represented by the Chairman of the National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Andriy Hnatov, and Deputy Head of Military Intelligence Vadym Skibitsky. Afterward, Umerov held a separate meeting with Witkoff and called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to inform him about the progress of the negotiations.
"The meeting was tense but not negative. We appreciate the serious engagement of the U.S. Our position is to do everything possible to help the U.S. succeed without losing our country and preventing new aggression," one Ukrainian official told Axios.
On Sunday, aboard the presidential plane on the way from Florida to Washington, Trump told reporters that he was aware of the results of the negotiations and believes that "there are good chances to reach an agreement."
Witkoff plans to travel to Moscow on Monday and meet with Putin on Tuesday. "The main question is what the Russians' position is and how serious their intentions are," one of the Ukrainian officials told Axios, adding, "We'll see what Witkoff brings back from Moscow."
Earlier, it was reported that the initial version of the 28-point plan proposed by the U.S. gave significant advantage to Russia. It required Ukraine to transfer occupied territories to Russia, as well as those that Russia had not even captured. Kyiv was also proposed to commit to never joining NATO and to reduce its army.
At the negotiations of representatives from the U.S., Ukraine, and Europe in Geneva, which took place last week, this plan was amended considering Ukraine's position. However, as Bloomberg notes, the negotiations are still hindered by the same obstacles as before.
