Ukrainian officials are contemplating potential concessions to bring an end to Russia’s invasion, following extensive discussions with senior U.S. diplomats. These talks have set the stage for the U.S. to present Ukraine’s proposals to Moscow.
This development coincides with an upcoming meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s special envoy, scheduled for Tuesday. The meeting follows a weekend of negotiations held in South Florida with Ukrainian representatives. Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, is expected to accompany Witkoff to Moscow on Monday, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.
Witkoff and Kushner have emerged as pivotal figures in the U.S.’s renewed diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict.
Together with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, they engaged with key Ukrainian officials in Hallandale Beach, Florida, over the weekend.
This meeting, conducted in proximity to the residences of Witkoff, Kushner, and Trump—with Rubio also hailing from the region—lasted approximately four hours. The discussions delved into various aspects of how Ukraine envisions concluding the nearly four-year-long conflict.
Both parties are actively working to amend a U.S.-drafted peace plan, which emerged from earlier negotiations between Washington and Moscow but faced criticism for being overly accommodating to Russia.
During the latest round of talks, the officials discussed potential land swap deals between Russia and Ukraine, a senior US official told the WSJ. They also discussed another crucial sticking point: Ukrainian elections.
The US official disclosed that both sides discussed a timeline for when to hold elections next in Ukraine.
Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, left, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, center, and Jared Kushner attend a meeting with Ukrainian officials Sunday, November 30, 2025, in Hallandale Beach, Florida
President Donald Trump said on Sunday there’s a ‘good chance’ of a deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war
French President Emmanuel Macron, right, welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Monday, December 1, 2025. Zelensky has indicated that he’s open
President Volodymyr Zelensky has been in office since 2019, and his term officially ended in 2024, but Ukrainian law disallows elections during wartime.
Still much is to be determined, including the scope of any land swaps, whether the new borders would be recognized internationally, and specific security guarantees for Ukraine.
Following the discussions on Sunday, Trump said there is a ‘good chance’ a deal could be struck and the war could soon come to a close.
However, Trump has signaled for months that a deal is imminent, even after his August meeting with Putin in Alaska, though actual progress has been slow and contentious.
The Kushner-Witkoff duo dealt directly with Putin’s negotiator Kirill Dmitriev in Florida last month, where they developed the initial version of the 28-point plan.
Though the plan caught some flak, it was later adjusted in Geneva between top US and Ukrainian officials, including Zelensky’s top negotiator Andriy Yermak, the president’s now-ex chief of staff.
Yermak resigned after anti-corruption investigators raided his home and offices in connection with the ongoing probe last week. The scandal has cast a shadow over the current regime’s position in the negotiations.
Zelensky is under pressure at home as his administration is embroiled in a corruption scandal
Zelensky has signaled a willingness to go along with US-led negotiations with Russia as some chaos has gripped his administration.
Putin has ostensibly acted the same, showing an openness to the wind-down of the conflict that has claimed the lives of an estimated 300,000 soldiers. Still, Russia and Ukraine have been relentlessly exchanging blows.
‘When Ukrainian troops leave the territories they hold, then the fighting will stop,’ Putin said recently. ‘If they don’t, then we’ll achieve that through military means.’
A Russian missile strike around midday on Monday killed four people and wounded 40 others, 11 in critical condition, in the eastern city of Dnipro, according to the head of regional administration Vladyslav Haivanenko.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday condemned Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil infrastructure over the weekend, including an attack on an oil terminal owned by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, CPC, and another that targeted two tankers in Turkish waters.
