Witkoff to Meet Putin Early Next Week as Ukrainian Delegation Reportedly Heads to Washington

Ukrainian officials will reportedly be in Washington this weekend for talks on US President Donald Trump’s plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine – with Trump’s envoy set to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in “the first half” of next week.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that the Kremlin would “announce the date in due course,” according to Russian state media outlet RIA Novosti.

Also on Friday, AFP reported that a Ukrainian delegation would travel to Washington “at the end of this week” for negotiations with the US. According to their unnamed source – a senior official briefed on the matter – the talks may take place in Florida.

Previously, Trump said in a Truth Social post that he had directed Witkoff to meet with Putin in Moscow to discuss the revised 28-point “peace” plan drafted by the US to bring an end to Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine.

In its original form, the plan required Ukraine to forswear NATO membership, limit the size of its armed forces, and cede territory to Russia. It was, in Trump’s words, “fine-tuned” at a meeting of US, European, and Ukrainian officials in Geneva on Sunday – but the details of the changes have not been publicly announced.

Britain, Germany, and France are said to have drafted a counter-proposal, the terms of which are more favorable to Ukraine. The number of points in the plan are reportedly far fewer than in the original.

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Russian FPV Strikes Civilians in Nikopol, 3 Dead Including Mother and Son

A Russian FPV drone hit a group of civilians moving along the road in Nikopol on Tuesday, killing three people, including an elderly person and her son. The attack was part of a broader wave of Russian strikes across the Dnipropetrovsk region, which saw more than 40 attacks on four districts throughout the day.

Also on Tuesday, Bloomberg leaked the contents of a number of phone calls between Witkoff and senior Kremlin officials. Their conversations revealed that Witkoff had advised Russian negotiators on how best to present the Kremlin-friendly plan to Trump to secure his support.

Despite backlash from within his own party, opposition parties, Europe, and NATO, Trump backed his envoy. The Kremlin has since suggested that the leak may suggest that Witkoff has enemies within the White House, and accused Bloomberg of hybrid warfare.

Also on Friday, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff and lead negotiator, Andriy Yermak, said that Zelensky would never cede territory to Russia – before resigning under the cloud of an ongoing corruption scandal in Ukraine’s energy sector.

Despite Trump’s assertion that there are “only a few remaining points of disagreement” between Russia and Ukraine, Putin said on Thursday that Russia would halt its offensive only if Kyiv withdraws from the territories Moscow claims.