Miami (AFP) – US, Ukrainian and European officials were due to meet in Miami on Friday in a renewed diplomatic push to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, with Washington seeking a way out of a dangerous stalemate. The two-day talks, involving President Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, were overshadowed by the president’s announcement of a deal with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to boost diesel supplies, underscoring how the conflict has become entwined with soaring energy prices.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Thursday that the conflict had reached a potentially explosive impasse, with the failure to reach a negotiated settlement raising the risk of further escalation. “The other way that stalemates end is through escalation,” Rubio told reporters in Lisbon, warning that the conflict could spread to neighboring NATO countries. “We do not believe that there is a military solution to this conflict,” he added.
Trump has blamed Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries for surging fuel prices, although the US-Israeli war with Iran has been the principal disruptor of global energy supplies. Following a telephone call with Putin on Friday, Trump said Russia would immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel to US and global markets, with another 500,000 tons to follow in November. The US Treasury Department said it was issuing a temporary license to allow Russian diesel to flow to global markets. It was not immediately clear whether Trump and Putin had discussed Ukraine during their call.
Energy supplies also feature in the Miami discussions, with a partial ceasefire covering attacks on energy infrastructure and grain shipments among the ideas under consideration, according to Axios. The Miami meeting follows visits to Moscow and Kyiv last month by Witkoff, a longtime Trump confidant, and Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, as Washington seeks to revive negotiations that have yielded little progress. US negotiators have since been developing fresh proposals with Russian and Ukrainian officials, a source familiar with the discussions told AFP. Ukraine has indicated a willingness to explore the partial ceasefire, but Russia has shown little enthusiasm, the US news outlet reported.
With winter approaching, the prospect of continued fighting and attacks on vital infrastructure has added urgency to the search for a settlement. The renewed diplomacy comes against a backdrop of deadly Russian attacks, including a strike on buses in the frontline Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk that killed 30 people.
Trump’s repeated attempts to broker an end to the war have foundered over Moscow’s sweeping territorial demands, particularly its insistence on controlling all of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, including areas still held by Kyiv. Zelensky has rejected surrendering Ukrainian-held territory, warning that Russia could use it as a springboard for another attack. Russia, which launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, occupies roughly one-fifth of Ukrainian territory.
The Miami discussions are also expected to cover security guarantees designed to protect Ukraine against future Russian aggression and plans for the country’s post-war economic recovery, US officials said. National security advisors from Britain, France and Germany have been invited, along with representatives of NATO and the European Union. European officials have expressed concern over high energy costs and the wider economic consequences of the conflict, according to US sources.
Zelensky’s chief of staff Kyrylo Budanov and intelligence chief Rustem Umerov will be among Ukraine’s representatives, alongside senior negotiators Sergiy Kyslytsya and David Arakhamia. Witkoff and Kushner briefed Trump on their latest proposals Thursday, at a meeting also attended by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other senior officials, Axios reported. The US administration hopes to make diplomatic headway before November’s midterm elections, with Washington also seeking to arrange broader talks involving Russia and Ukraine later this month. The Kremlin has signaled that such three-way negotiations could resume in October, although no date has been announced.
© 2024 AFP
