A White House representative announced on Sunday that he engaged in “productive and constructive” discussions in Florida with officials from Ukraine and Europe, aiming to resolve the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which has lasted nearly four years.

Steve Witkoff shared on social media that these discussions focused on harmonizing a collective strategic plan among Ukraine, the United States, and European nations.

“Our mutual priority is to halt the violence, secure guaranteed safety, and establish conditions conducive to Ukraine’s recovery, stability, and long-term prosperity. True peace must not only mean an end to fighting but also lay a dignified groundwork for a stable future,” remarked the envoy for U.S. President Donald Trump.

These discussions form part of the Trump administration’s extensive efforts over several months to broker peace. Despite Trump’s vigorous diplomatic endeavors to terminate the conflict, he faces significant obstacles due to starkly opposing demands from Moscow and Kyiv. Recently, Russian President Vladimir Putin has indicated a firm stance on his demanding conditions for Ukraine, even as Russian forces make slow advances on the battlefield amid significant casualties.

Positive assessments

Witkoff’s positive outlook coincides with ongoing negotiations involving Russia. On Saturday, a Kremlin representative noted that these talks in Florida were proceeding “constructively.”

“The discussions are proceeding constructively. They began earlier and will continue today, and will also continue tomorrow,” Kirill Dmitriev told reporters in Miami on Saturday. There were no immediate updates on the talks with Russia on Sunday.

Dmitriev met with Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported.

For Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram Sunday that diplomatic efforts were “moving forward quite quickly, and our team in Florida has been working with the American side.”

The Kremlin denied Sunday that trilateral talks involving Ukraine, Russia and the U.S. were under discussion, after Zelenskyy said Saturday that Washington had proposed the idea of three-way discussions.

“At present, no one has seriously discussed this initiative, and to my knowledge it is not being prepared,” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said, according to Russian state news agencies.

Ukrainian civilians moved to Russia

In Ukraine, the country’s human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets on Sunday accused Russian forces of forcibly removing about 50 Ukrainian civilians from the Ukrainian Sumy border region to Russian territory.

Writing on Telegram, he said that Russian forces illegally detained the residents in the village of Hrabovske on Thursday, before moving them to Russia on Saturday.

Lubinets said he contacted Russia’s human rights commissioner, requesting information on the civilians’ whereabouts and conditions, and demanding their immediate return to Ukraine.

Possible French-Russian talks

The French presidency on Sunday welcomed Putin’s willingness to speak with President Emmanuel Macron, saying it would decide how to proceed “in the coming days.”

“As soon as the prospect of a ceasefire and peace negotiations becomes clearer, it becomes useful again to speak with Putin,” Macron’s office said in a statement. “It is welcome that the Kremlin publicly agrees to this approach.”

The statement came after reports that Putin was open to holding talks with the French president if there was mutual political will.

European Union leaders agreed on Friday to provide 90 billion euros ($106 billion) to Ukraine to meet its military and economic needs for the next two years, although they failed to bridge differences with Belgium that would have allowed them to use frozen Russian assets to raise the funds. Instead, they were borrowed from capital markets.