A high-ranking Kremlin representative is set to visit Florida to engage in discussions over a U.S.-proposed strategy aimed at resolving the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, according to a statement from a U.S. official on Thursday. This diplomatic exchange comes amid the Trump administration’s efforts to broker a potential agreement.

Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, is scheduled to meet with Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s special envoy, and Jared Kushner, Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, in Miami this Saturday. This information was shared by an American official, who wished to remain anonymous as the meeting has not yet been made public.

The meeting in Miami will follow discussions held earlier this week in Berlin between Witkoff, Kushner, and both Ukrainian and European officials. These talks centered around the U.S. offering security guarantees to Kyiv, considering territorial compromises, and other elements of the American proposal designed to bring an end to the war.

When queried about the upcoming Miami meeting, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov acknowledged that Moscow is preparing for discussions with the U.S. to gain insights into the outcomes of the Berlin meetings. However, he refrained from providing additional details.

President Trump has been spearheading intensive diplomatic endeavors to conclude nearly four years of conflict following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Despite these efforts, Washington faces significant challenges due to the starkly opposing demands from Moscow and Kyiv.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Wednesday that Moscow would seek to extend its gains in Ukraine if Kyiv and its Western allies reject the Kremlin’s demands in peace talks.

Putin wants all the areas in four key regions captured by his forces, as well as the Crimean Peninsula, which was illegally annexed in 2014, to be recognized as Russian territory. He also has demanded that Ukraine withdraw from some areas in eastern Ukraine that Moscow’s forces haven’t captured yet, which Ukraine has rejected.

The Kremlin also insists that Ukraine abandon its bid to join NATO and warns that Moscow won’t accept the deployment of any troops from NATO members and will view them as a “legitimate target.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, asked Thursday about his comments last week that were interpreted as him renouncing Ukraine’s NATO bid, and if he was willing to change Ukraine’s constitution to remove the reference to joining NATO, said he saw no reason to do that.

“My words cannot be interpreted in any other way,” Zelenskyy said. “Our position remains unchanged.” While the United States doesn’t see Ukraine in NATO “for now,” he said. “Politicians change.”

Zelenskyy said Ukrainian officials were expected to hold negotiations in the U.S. on Friday or Saturday.

“We have progress in our dialogue with the American side regarding some of our points, they also speak with Russian side,” Zelenskyy said during a visit to Brussels where EU leaders were set to decide whether to use tens of billions of euros in frozen Russian assets to underwrite a loan to meet Ukraine’s military and financial needs over the next two years.

“We are in the war and United States are decision-makers, who can really stop Putin and I count on this,” Zelenskyy said. “I really count on pressure from United States. Putin does not want to stop this war, but he can if United States will pressure more.”

As European allies gathered for the high-stakes summit, Russia and Ukraine exchanged more aerial attacks.

Ukraine’s air force said Russia fired 82 drones of various types at Ukraine overnight, 63 of which were intercepted or jammed.

In Cherkasy, Russian drones that targeted critical infrastructure wounded six people and left parts of the city without electricity, regional administration head Ihor Taburets said. Russian drones also wounded four people in Kryvyi Rih and seven near Odesa, according to local officials.

In Russia’s Rostov region, three people were killed by Ukrainian drones overnight, including two crew members of a cargo ship that was hit in Rostov-on-Don and a man who died in Bataysk. At least 10 others were wounded, according to local officials.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its air defenses intercepted 47 Ukrainian drones overnight.

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