Ukraine settlement talks enter third day in Miami

The Kremlin toned down expectations ahead of a third day of Ukraine settlement talks in Miami Sunday, saying proposed changes to the plan to end the war were a non-starter.

Washington last month stunned Ukraine and its European allies by presenting a 28-point plan to end the war, widely seen as caving in to the Kremlin's key demands, which has since been redrafted following Kyiv and Europe's involvement.

But the Kremlin is unlikely to accept the changes, as it already called them "unconstructive," based on details available publicly.

Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev "should receive information about what has been developed by the Americans and Europeans" in the plan and report that back to Moscow later, Kremlin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state TV.

A video on Russian state media showed Dmitriev arriving in a motorcade to the Shell Bay luxury golf club, which belongs to US envoy Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump's former real estate partner.

Ukrainian top negotiator Rustem Umerov, a former defence minister, said he was about to begin a third day of talks with the Americans in Miami.

Dmitriev, a former Goldman Sachs banker, did not bring any new message from President Vladimir Putin and his mission in Miami was just to "obtain information," Peskov added.

War rages on

While little is known of the latest version, Kyiv is likely to be expected to surrender some territory — a prospect resented by many Ukrainians — in exchange for US security guarantees.

The Moscow and Kyiv envoys were due to separately meet with Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. The Kremlin ruled out three-way talks earlier. European envoys were also in town, said Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the talks as "constructive" and said they were "moving at a fairly rapid pace". He nevertheless cautioned that "much depends on whether Russia feels the need to end the war for real".

He also hailed this week as "historic" for Ukraine, thanking Europe for pledging $100 billion of funding over the next two years. "We fought for it for a very long time," he added.

Moscow's troops have been steadily advancing at the eastern front in recent months. Putin on Friday hailed the Russian army's territorial gains — and threatened more in the coming weeks.

Just over the week, "Russia has launched approximately 1,300 attack drones, nearly 1,200 guided aerial bombs, and 9 missiles of various types" against Ukraine, Zelensky said.