Umerov to Brief Zelensky in Paris After Miami Peace Talks

The head of Ukraine’s peace delegation is traveling from the US to Paris, where he is set to brief President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday’s negotiations in Miami with senior US officials over a potential framework to end the war.

According to Ukrainian officials cited by Axios, delegation head Rustem Umerov – who is also secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) – is expected to arrive in Paris on Monday, Dec. 1, where Zelensky is meeting French President Emmanuel Macron to shore up support for Kyiv.

The trip follows a new round of high-stakes talks in Florida between the Ukrainian delegation and top US negotiators at a resort in Miami on Nov. 30.

At Sunday’s talks, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the goal is not only to end the war but to “help Ukraine be safe forever so never again will they face another invasion,” and to launch an “age of true prosperity” supported by US-Ukraine commercial ties, development funds, and energy cooperation.

Meanwhile, ahead of the meeting, Umerov praised what he called the “super US team,” saying, “the US is hearing us, the US is supporting us.”

The US delegation – led by Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff and presidential adviser Jared Kushner – is building on the Geneva discussions, which sketched out broad parameters for a possible deal. However, major political and territorial questions remain unresolved.

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Ukraine’s delegation includes senior diplomats and top defense and intelligence figures.

It was headed by Umerov and included First Deputy Foreign Minister Serhiy Kyslytsia, Ambassador to the US Olha Stefanishyna, Chief of the General Staff Andriy Hnatov, Foreign Intelligence Service chief Oleh Ivashchenko, Deputy Head of Defense Intelligence Vadym Skibitsky, and Oleksandr Bevz, freelance adviser to the head of the presidential office on international communications.

Talks opened at Witkoff’s golf resort in Florida amid political turbulence in Kyiv. Zelensky has been facing intense scrutiny after a major 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 briefed journalists alongside Rubio.

Meanwhile, Witkoff is expected to travel to Moscow – a planned visit that has raised concern among analysts in Washington and Kyiv who fear some Trump advisers may be leaning too closely toward Russian positions. The White House has strongly denied those claims.

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.