US envoy Witkoff says Ukraine talks with Russia ‘productive’

The talks come just a day before a second round of US-mediated talks between Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi.Published On 31 Jan 2026United States special envoy Steve Witkoff has said he held “productive and constructive meetings” with Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev in Florida, as President Donald Trump’s administration presses to end Russia’s nearly four-year war in Ukraine.“We are encouraged by this meeting that Russia is working toward securing peace in Ukraine,” wrote Witkoff in a post on X following Saturday’s talks.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3At least three people killed in Russian attacks on Ukrainelist 2 of 3Ukraine receives bodies of 1,000 soldiers from Russialist 3 of 3Russia to pause bombing Kyiv during extreme winter conditions, says Trumpend of listUS Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, and White House adviser Josh Gruenbaum also attended the talks.The meeting came a day before Ukrainian and Russian negotiators were scheduled to hold a second round of talks with US mediators in Abu Dhabi to discuss a US-backed plan to end Russia’s war.A first US-mediated meeting was held in the United Arab Emirates’s capital last week, marking the first direct public negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv since the early weeks of the war.Trump told reporters in the Oval Office this week that he believes “we are getting close” to a deal to end the war.Trump announced on Thursday that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, had agreed to his request not to attack Ukraine’s energy infrastructure for a week amid extreme cold weather, which he said was “very nice” of the Russian president.The Kremlin confirmed on Friday that Putin had received the request, with spokesperson Dmitry Peskov telling Sky News the Russian leader had “of course” agreed to the proposal.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on X that the issue of a ceasefire on energy infrastructure attacks had been discussed during last week’s talks, and that he expected the agreements to be implemented. “De-escalation steps contribute to real progress toward ending the war,” he added.