Russia Ukraine: USA wants to bring Kiev and Moscow to the table

SDA

20.12.2025 - 19:37

ARCHIVE - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Photo: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP/dpa/Archive
ARCHIVE - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Photo: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP/dpa/Archive
Keystone

At the negotiations in Miami to end the war in Ukraine, the US government is proposing that representatives of Kiev and Moscow talk directly to each other for the first time in months, according to Ukrainian sources. According to the state news agency Ukrinform, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi suggested a trilateral meeting between the national security advisors of America, Ukraine and Russia - referring to information provided by the Secretary of the Ukrainian Security Council, Rustem Umyerov, who is Kiev's chief negotiator in the USA.

Keystone-SDA

According to Selenskyj, European representatives could also be present at the meeting. Such a meeting would be logical as soon as the results of the current talks became apparent, Selensky added.

Russian and Ukrainian negotiators last met directly in Turkey in the summer. The negotiations at that time had produced little of what had been hoped for, even if he welcomed the prisoner exchanges agreed at the time, said Selenskyj.

Who is Russia sending?

At the possible meeting announced by Zelenskyi, Umyerev would represent Ukraine, while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio would represent President Donald Trump's administration. It is unclear who Russia would send to the meeting: Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin does not have a designated security advisor.

The long-standing secretary of the National Security Council, ex-intelligence chief and Putin confidant Nikolai Patrushev, was transferred to the post of advisor for shipbuilding and maritime affairs last year. In terms of foreign policy, Putin has been advised by Yuri Ushakov for years, while Putin's advisor Vladimir Medinsky, who is actually responsible for cultural and historical issues, led the negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul. Russia's special envoy to the USA is Kirill Dmitriev.