Rubio Calls Florida Ukraine Talks “Productive” as Witkoff Heads to Moscow

U.S. and Ukrainian officials completed about four hours of talks in Florida on Sunday on a plan to end the war with Russia, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the session productive but said much work remains, NPR (via the Associated Press) and NBC News reported.

“Much work remains, but today was, again, a very productive and useful session where I think additional progress was made,” Mr. Rubio told reporters, per NBC News. He did not give specifics or take questions. “It’s not just about the terms that ends fighting. It’s about also the terms that set up Ukraine for long-term prosperity,” he said, NPR reported.

Mr. Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, who NBC News said holds no official government position but advises unofficially, met a Ukrainian delegation led by Rustem Umerov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, at the Shell Bay Club in Hallandale Beach, a golf and racket club developed by Mr. Witkoff, according to NPR. Mr. Umerov said, “Our objective is a prosperous, strong Ukraine,” NBC News and NPR reported.

The talks come days before Mr. Witkoff is to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, NPR reported. Diplomats have focused on revisions to a U.S.-authored plan, developed in talks between Washington and Moscow, that critics said was too weighted toward Russian demands, NPR said.

Ukraine is negotiating while it presses back against Russian forces and deals with a domestic corruption scandal, NPR noted. President Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he spoke with Mr. Rubio and Mr. Witkoff after the meeting and that “they’re doing well,” NBC News reported.

Mr. Rubio had earlier framed the goal as an end to the war that “leaves Ukraine sovereign and independent and with an opportunity at real prosperity,” NPR reported.