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Officials from Ukraine and the US held talks aimed at creating "reliable security guarantees" for Kyiv as part of a Washington-backed peace plan to end Russia-Ukraine war, Al Jazeera reported.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who met with a Ukrainian delegation led by the head of Kyiv's National Security and Defence Council, Rustem Umerov, said the discussions on Sunday were "productive" but that there is "more work to be done". "This is delicate. It's complicated," he said, as per Al Jazeera. The talks took place in the US state of Florida, and included Witkoff and US President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Witkoff leaves on Monday for Moscow, where he is expected to meet Russian counterparts for talks this week. "We continue to be realistic about how difficult this is, but optimistic, particularly given the fact that as we've made progress, I think there is a shared vision here that this is not just about ending the war," Rubio told reporters after the talks concluded, Al Jazeera reported. "It is about securing Ukraine's future, a future that we hope will be more prosperous than it's ever been," as per Al Jazeera. He added that there were "a lot of moving parts" in the discussions, and "obviously, there's another party involved [Russia] here that will have to be a part of the equation". Rubio said the US has been in touch "in varying degrees" with Russian officials and has "a pretty good understanding of their views as well," Al Jazeera reported. The talks came a week after Rubio and Ukrainian negotiators met in Geneva, Switzerland, to revise Trump's peace plan, which was initially criticised as a Russian wish list. Umerov, writing on X ahead of the meeting, said Ukraine had clear directives and priorities for the talks - "safeguarding Ukrainian interests, ensuring substantive dialogue, and advancing on the basis of the progress achieved in Geneva". He added that negotiators want to "secure real peace for Ukraine and reliable, long-term security guarantees". The sit-down set the stage for Witkoff's planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which Trump earlier signalled would take place this week. Putin said the US draft, which has not yet been published, could serve as a "basis for future agreements", adding that his talks with Witkoff should focus on the Russian-occupied Donbas and Crimea regions, as per Al Jazeera. (ANI)
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