Russia Dismisses Reports of Progress in Ukraine Peace Talks

Proposals that emerged in recent negotiations with the United States were “rather unconstructive,” a Kremlin official said on Sunday.Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s special envoy, met with a representative of Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, in Miami this weekend.Credit...Pool photo by Markus SchreiberDec. 21, 2025, 7:47 p.m. ETThe Kremlin on Sunday appeared to throw cold water on the results of several days of peace talks in Miami, where American representatives met separately with Russian and Ukrainian officials in the latest round of negotiations aimed at ending Russia’s war with Ukraine.Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s special envoy, and Rustem Umerov, a senior Ukrainian security official who has been leading his country’s delegation to the talks, had said in joint statements on social media that the Ukrainians had “productive and constructive” meetings in Florida with U.S. and European representatives over the preceding three days.Those talks focused on aligning strategy between Ukraine, the United States and Europe, and American and Ukrainian representatives discussed “further development of a 20-point plan,” the statements said. The 20-point plan, which is unlikely to be accepted by Russia, was put forth by Ukraine this month in an effort to push back against a proposal from Mr. Trump that called on the Ukrainians to cede more land.While in Miami, the American delegation met separately with Kirill Dmitriev, an envoy for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. Russian state news media reported that Mr. Dmitriev, who is in charge of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, arrived in Miami on Saturday and went straight from the airport to a meeting with Mr. Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law.Afterward, Mr. Witkoff released a statement putting those talks in a good light.“Russia remains fully committed to achieving peace in Ukraine,” he said on social media. “Russia highly values the efforts and support of the United States to resolve the Ukrainian conflict and re-establish global security.”Mr. Dmitriev, too, initially described those talks as constructive, according to the Russian state news agency TASS.But on Sunday in Moscow, the Kremlin’s top foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, suggested that the talks with American negotiators had not been productive. Mr. Ushakov said that most of the proposals discussed during negotiations with the United States had been put forth by Ukrainian and European representatives and were “rather unconstructive,” TASS reported.The talks in Miami came just after Mr. Putin, in his annual marathon news conference in Moscow on Friday, accused Ukraine of refusing to end the war peacefully and framed Russia’s victory as inevitable.“The strategic initiative is completely in the hands of the Russian forces,” Mr. Putin said.Zolan Kanno-Youngs contributed reporting.Anushka Patil is a Times reporter covering breaking and developing news around the world.SKIP Site IndexNewsHome PageU.S.WorldPoliticsNew YorkEducationSportsBusinessTechScienceWeatherThe Great ReadObituariesHeadwayVisual InvestigationsThe MagazineArtsBook ReviewBest Sellers Book ListDanceMoviesMusicPop CultureTelevisionTheaterVisual ArtsLifestyleHealthWellFoodRestaurant ReviewsLoveTravelStyleFashionReal EstateT MagazineOpinionToday's OpinionColumnistsEditorialsGuest EssaysOp-DocsLettersSunday OpinionOpinion VideoOpinion AudioMoreAudioGamesCookingWirecutterThe AthleticJobsVideoGraphicsTrendingLive EventsCorrectionsReader CenterTimesMachineThe Learning NetworkSchool of The NYTinEducationAccountSubscribeManage My AccountHome DeliveryGift SubscriptionsGroup SubscriptionsGift ArticlesEmail NewslettersNYT LicensingReplica EditionTimes Store