US proposes Ukraine-Russia trilateral talks as Washington and Moscow envoys meet

Washington has proposed the first face-to-face negotiations between Ukraine and Russia in months, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday, expressing scepticism about whether Moscow genuinely wants to end the war.

The proposal for three-way talks at the level of national security advisers comes as US and Russian special envoys held discussions over the weekend in Miami on ending Russia's nearly four-year full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner met Saturday with Russian President Vladimir Putin's envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who also serves as head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund.

The meetings are part of the Trump administration's push for a peace deal, which also sparked talks between Ukrainian and European officials in Berlin earlier this week.

Yuri Ushakov, Putin's aide, told Russian state-run media that changes to the peace plan being made by Ukraine and Europe were causing delays in reaching an agreement.

"I am more than sure that the provisions that the Europeans have introduced or are trying to introduce with Ukrainians do not improve the documents and do not improve the possibility of achieving long-term peace," he said.

Kyiv and its allies have repeatedly warned against Putin and the Kremlin's maximalist demands, which include Ukraine's permanent exclusion from NATO and Kyiv's withdrawal from all territory Russia claims.

Meanwhile, the US-Russian peace plan has evolved from an initial 28-point proposal, which was widely seen as favouring Moscow, to a revised version that sources have described as containing approximately 20 points.

Zelenskyy warns of negative signals from Moscow

Zelenskyy said Saturday that progress on a deal depends on how much pressure the US puts on Russia.

"America must clearly say: if not diplomacy, then there will be full pressure," Zelenskyy said. "Putin does not yet feel the kind of pressure that should exist."

He warned that signals from Russia remain negative, citing assaults along the frontline, war crimes in border areas and continued strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure.

"Much depends on whether Russia feels the need to end the war for real – it must not be a rhetorical or political game on Russia's part," Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy stated he would support trilateral discussions if they led to progress in areas such as prisoner swaps or paved the way for a meeting of national leaders.

He said he did not expect any breakthrough but would back the format if it produced results.

Ukraine's chief negotiator Rustem Umerov said his delegation had held separate meetings Friday with American and European partners in the United States and that they agreed to keep working together "in the near future".

National security advisers from the UK, France and Germany joined the Friday talks in Miami with Umerov and US officials.

On Friday, Putin said he was confident Russia could achieve its goals by force if Kyiv refuses to accept Moscow's terms in peace talks.

"The ball is entirely in our Western opponents' court," Putin said at his annual end-of-year press conference, adding that peace was only possible based on his demands**.**

Ukraine and Russia have not held official direct talks since July, when envoys met in Istanbul for discussions that led to prisoner swaps but little else.