MIAMI, Florida – The Ukrainian delegation has arrived at the Miami meeting site as top negotiators for US President Donald Trump prepare to meet with Ukrainian officials in Florida on Sunday, Nov. 30.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the aim of the talks is not just to stop fighting but to reach a deal that preserves Ukraine’s sovereignty and stops future wars.
Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (RNBO), thanked what he called the “super US team,” saying, “the US is hearing us, the US is supporting us.”
The US team – led by Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff, and presidential adviser Jared Kushner – will build on last weekend’s talks in Geneva. Those discussions laid out the broad contours of a potential deal, though major political and territorial issues remain unresolved.
The Ukrainian delegation is led by Umerov and includes First Deputy Foreign Minister Serhiy Kyslytsia, Ambassador to the US Olha Stefanishyna, and Chief of the General Staff Andriy Hnatov.
It also features Head of the Foreign Intelligence Service Oleh Ivashchenko, Deputy Chief of the Defense Intelligence (HUR) Vadym Skibitsky, and freelance advisor to the Head of the Office of the President on International Communications Oleksandr Bevz.
The meeting kicked off at Witkoff’s golf resort.
Earlier, Umerov announced on social media the start of a meeting between the Ukrainian and American delegations on “steps to achieve a decent peace,” but later deleted the post.
However, in a Telegram post at 5:19 p.m. Kyiv time, Umerov wrote:
“A meeting of the Ukrainian delegation with the American side on steps to achieve a decent peace has already begun in the United States.”
He added that he is in constant contact with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“We have clear directives and priorities – protecting Ukrainian interests, conducting substantive dialogue, and building on the achievements reached in Geneva. We are working for real peace for Ukraine and guaranteed security,” Umerov wrote.
He also noted that the delegation will report to Zelensky on the outcomes of the Sunday meetings.
A senior US official previously told Kyiv Post of the planned Sunday meeting in Florida.
The Florida talks come at a turbulent moment for Kyiv, with Zelensky dealing with political fallout after a corruption investigation forced the resignation of his chief of staff and chief negotiator, Andriy Yermak, on Friday.
Yermak was a key participant in the Geneva talks and even briefed reporters alongside Rubio.
Meanwhile, Witkoff is scheduled to travel to Moscow next week – a plan raising concern among analysts in Washington and Kyiv who fear some Trump advisers may be edging too close to Russian positions. The White House firmly denies this.
Notably, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, announced during a briefing that Putin is scheduled to meet with Witkoff ahead of Putin’s visit to India around Dec. 4-5. Peskov did not provide a more specific date or further details about the meeting.
To assess expectations for Sunday, former US Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst offered a measured readout to Kyiv Post. He pushed back on claims that Geneva yielded little progress, calling the talks productive.
“My understanding is that the Geneva negotiations went well right after the difficult negotiation between [Army Secretary Dan] Driscoll and Zelensky and others in Kyiv,” Herbst said.
According to Herbst, the updated draft removed several contentious Russian demands, including ceding western Donbas, unusual terms on frozen Russian assets, explicit NATO references, and the elimination of security guarantees.
Still, he said, both sides agreed that the toughest issues must now be handled directly by the presidents: “Both parties have stated that the most difficult issues need to be resolved at the level of presidents.”
Herbst described Sunday’s meeting as a diagnostic step.
“My expectation would be that the US wants to see if there’s any additional Ukrainian flexibility on these points before Witkoff goes to Moscow,” he told Kyiv Post.
He added that Washington may already have “some Russian feedback” it wants to test, while Ukraine will be looking for signs of “American flexibility.”