Ukraine will return to the United States to continue peace talks following negotiations between a delegation from Washington and Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Andriy Sybiha, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, said on Wednesday.
According to Ukrinform, Sybiha said that there had been a phone call between the head of the Ukrainian delegation, National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov, and US special envoy Steve Witkoff, after talks in the Kremlin yesterday.
Speaking to reporters in Brussels, Sybiha said: “Since it was a telephone conversation, for security reasons, it’s difficult to imagine that the details of this meeting were discussed.”
“Representatives of the American delegation said that, in their assessment, the talks in Moscow were important for the peace process and invited the Ukrainian delegation to continue our discussions in the US soon.”
Sybiha also said that the head of the Ukrainian delegation has continued to consult with partners from the United Kingdom, Germany and France to coordinate efforts and assess the progress that has been made.
“We really do have progress from Geneva, then Miami... in the peace process, as we are now working with the 20-point document developed in Geneva. I want to confirm to you that the American delegation heard the Ukrainian delegation, and the document is still developing,” he said.
“Yes, some very sensitive issues have been bracketed and left for the leaders to decide on,” Sybiha conceded.
His remarks came after an almost five-hour-long round of negotiations between Putin, a delegation of top Kremlin aides, Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Moscow on Tuesday.
Emerging from the marathon talks, top Putin aide Yuri Ushakov said that “no compromise plan” had been reached and that there would be a “lot of work” ahead to resolve the war.
Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, later signaled cautious optimism about the progress of talks, saying “we’ve gotten closer, but we’re still not there. That could change. I hope it changes.”
“Ultimately the decisions have to be made, in the case of Russia, by Putin alone, not his advisors. Only Putin can end this war on the Russian side,” he added.
On Wednesday evening, Umerov said in a post on X that he had briefed national security advisors from European partners Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Finland and the UK, as well as representatives of the European Union and NATO, on ongoing talks.
“I gave my colleagues a detailed update on the negotiations in Geneva and Florida, and on the next steps in the diplomatic process,” he wrote.
“It’s important that Europe stays an active part of this – both in achieving peace and in shaping the future security architecture,” he continued.
“We also focused separately on security guarantees. Together, we need to develop a security guarantees framework that is real and effective – for the long-term security of Ukraine and all of Europe.”