Next round of Ukraine-US talks may take place in Miami – Axios
The next round of talks between Ukraine and the United States on resolving the war could take place this weekend in the US, possibly in Miami.
Source: unnamed US officials speaking to Axios, as reported by European Pravda
Details: One of the officials told Axios that talks will likely take place "somewhere in the United States, could be Miami, with working groups, military people, looking at maps".
The US officials confirmed that two days of intensive talks between Ukraine, the US and European officials had led to significant progress on security guarantees for Ukraine, but left major gaps on the territorial issue.
One of the officials noted that Ukrainian and European counterparts had been surprised that the US side is ready to offer so many security guarantees and that they believed Russia will agree.
"Giving this NATO-like Article Five guarantee is something that President Trump believes he can get Russia to accept," the official said.
They confirmed that the security guarantees "would have to go before the Senate" but did not say whether the administration will seek to conclude an official treaty.
The US argument is that this deal offers Ukraine reliable security guarantees, accelerates its path to the European Union and allocates billions for reconstruction, but in return requires territorial concessions from Ukraine in favour of Russia.
As one US official described it, the aim is to "come up with the strongest package possible, in order to see if we can go back to Russia with something that can close this out".
However, officials in Kyiv and European capitals fear that Ukraine may agree to painful concessions, while Russia could reject the deal and demand more.
Background:
- An anonymous US official told Sky News that "90% of issues" between Ukraine and Russia had been resolved during the Ukraine-US talks in Berlin.
- Rustem Umierov, Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, said he expected that Kyiv and Washington would have agreed on common positions by the end of the day, bringing peace closer.
- Earlier, AFP reported that during talks in Berlin on Sunday 14 December, US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner pressed Ukrainian representatives to give up the part of Donbas still under Kyiv's control.
- Following this, Ukraine's Deputy Foreign Minister Serhii Kyslytsia urged the public not to trust anonymous sources on the US position in the negotiations.
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