In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner attend a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow on Dec. 2, 2025.
Kristina Kormilitsyna / POOL /AFP via Getty Images

President Trump's advisers and Ukrainian officials said Friday they'll meet for a third day of talks after making progress on creating a security framework for postwar Ukraine, and are urging Russia to commit to peace.

The officials, who met for a second day in Florida on Friday, issued a joint statement that offered broad brushstrokes about the progress they say has been made as Mr. Trump pushes Kyiv and Moscow to agree to a U.S.-mediated proposal to end nearly four years of war.

"Both parties agreed that real progress toward any agreement depends on Russia's readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace, including steps toward de-escalation and cessation of killings," the statement reads. "Parties also separately reviewed the future prosperity agenda which aims to support Ukraine's post-war reconstruction, joint U.S.–Ukraine economic initiatives, and long-term recovery projects."

The Kremlin did not immediately comment on the latest U.S.-Ukraine talks on Friday.

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Mr. Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner's talks in Florida with Rustem Umerov, Ukraine's lead negotiator, follow discussions between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the U.S. envoys at the Kremlin on Tuesday.

Yuri Ushakov, a top Putin official, told reporters following Tuesday's meeting that the talks were "constructive, very useful and substantive."

"The territorial issue, naturally, is the most important for us, and for the Americans too. A compromise option has not yet been found, but some American developments look more or less acceptable, but they need to be discussed," he said earlier this week. "Some formulations that were proposed to us are acceptable to us."

However, Ushakov also added, "We are no closer to resolving the crisis in Ukraine, and there is much work to be done."

Ushakov said Moscow was given four more documents in addition to the original 28-point proposal the Trump administration presented last month, but did not elaborate on what those documents contained.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who took part in talks last weekend with Ukrainian officials in Florida, had said those conversations were "another very productive session," but "there are a lot of moving parts."

Mr. Trump had told reporters after Sunday's talks, "I think that there's a good chance we can make a deal."

The original U.S.-backed peace proposal to end Russia's war on Ukraine that was unveiled last month has gone through changes after the initial plan was criticized by some as being too favorable to Russia, Mr. Trump told reporters over the weekend. One provision that drew heavy pushback from U.S. and European officials called for Ukraine to cede territory it currently controls in Donetsk to Russia.

"They're making concessions," Mr. Trump said of the Russians. "They're big concessions. They stop fighting, and they don't take any more land."

Friday's session with U.S. and Ukrainian officials took place at the Shell Bay Club in Hallandale Beach, Florida, a high-end private golf and lifestyle destination owned by Witkoff's real estate development company.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country's delegation in Florida wanted to hear from the U.S. side about the talks at the Kremlin.

Zelenskyy, as well as European leaders backing him, have repeatedly accused Putin of stalling in peace talks while the Russian army tries to press forward with its invasion. Zelenskyy said in a video address late Thursday that officials wanted to know "what other pretexts Putin has come up with to drag out the war and to pressure Ukraine."

Speaking to Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin on Friday, Ushakov praised Kushner as potentially playing an important role in ending Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"If any plan leading to a settlement is put on paper, it will be the pen of Mr. Kushner that will lead the way," Ushakov said.

The flattering comments about Kushner by the senior Russian official come as Putin has sought to sow division between Mr. Trump and Ukraine and Europe at a moment when Mr. Trump's impatience with the conflict is mounting. Putin, who made a state visit to India on Thursday, told an Indian media outlet that his five-hour talks this week with Witkoff and Kushner were "necessary" and "useful," but some proposals were unacceptable.

Kushner, who is married to Mr. Trump's daughter Ivanka, was a senior adviser to Mr. Trump during his first term and was the president's point person on developing the Abraham Accords, which formalized commercial and diplomatic ties between Israel and a trio of Arab nations.

Kushner has played a more informal role in Trump's second presidency, but he helped Witkoff close out ceasefire and hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas this fall. Mr. Trump tapped Kushner again to pair up with Witkoff to try to find an endgame to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

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