White House envoy Steve Witkoff said on Sunday that talks in Miami, USA, with his Russian counterpart Kirill Dmitriev and Ukrainian national security adviser Rustem Umerov were "productive and constructive," but "discussions did not yield clear breakthroughs in ending the war," Politico reports, writes UNN.
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"Ukraine remains fully committed to achieving a just and lasting peace," Witkoff wrote in his statement. "Our shared priority is to stop the killing, ensure guaranteed security, and create conditions for Ukraine's recovery, stability, and long-term prosperity."
These results, the publication notes, "culminated in weekend meetings in Florida weeks after the Trump administration proposed a plan to end the war in Ukraine with an early draft that officials in Kyiv and their EU supporters called unworkable." Negotiators from Russia, Ukraine, Europe, and the US continued to discuss proposals in recent weeks, although Ukraine and Russia did not hold direct talks, and each side met separately with US officials in Florida, the publication notes.
"Russian and Ukrainian representatives shared Witkoff's comments on social media on Sunday but did not provide any additional details on possible progress made in the talks," the publication states. Umerov posted a verbatim copy of Witkoff's statement on Ukraine on X. And Dmitriev reiterated Witkoff's statement on talks with Russia.
"The gap between the desires of the two opposing sides remains huge," the publication says.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday evening: "The most difficult issues were and remain the territories of Ukraine." Control over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, financing post-war reconstruction, and "several technical issues related to security guarantees" also remain stumbling blocks, he added.
He called on the US to exert increased pressure on Moscow.
"America must make it clear: if not diplomacy, then full pressure will be applied, a very strong package of weapons for Ukraine, very strong support for Ukraine, and the United States will apply comprehensive sanctions against the entire economy and all sectors that generate income for Russians," Zelenskyy said.
Yuriy Ushakov, an aide to Kremlin head Vladimir Putin, said that most of the peace plans proposed in Miami were put forward by Ukraine and Europe and seem "quite unconstructive," Russian media reported.
Dmitriev, the Kremlin envoy and businessman, said on Sunday that "war mongers" did not interfere in the talks, saying that "everything is fine," Russian media reported.
The embassies of Great Britain, France, Germany, and Poland in Washington, it is stated, did not immediately respond to the publication's request for comment.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Friday that "we still have a way to go" before signing a possible agreement, adding that peace talks could drag on for several more months. His comments overshadowed Trump's statement on Monday that the parties are "now closer than ever" to reaching an agreement to end the war, the publication writes.
Zelenskyy said that American officials proposed a trilateral meeting with Ukrainian and Russian national security advisers - an opportunity that the Kremlin denied on Sunday - but questioned whether it could help achieve progress in the talks.
On Sunday, the office of French President Emmanuel Macron signaled that he might be open to meeting with Putin, stating: "We will decide in the coming days what is the best way to proceed."
This came after European leaders last week agreed to provide Ukraine with a €90 billion loan through joint debt after Belgium thwarted a plan to use frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine's war effort.
Attempts in Washington to strengthen support for Ukraine have had mixed results, the publication writes. A bill that provides for the introduction of new, tougher sanctions against Russia did not receive support in the US Congress, the publication indicates.
American Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the main authors of the bill, called on the Trump administration to increase pressure on the Kremlin if Putin does not agree to start peace talks.
"If Putin says 'no,' we need to fundamentally change the rules of the game, including providing Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles to hit drone and missile production facilities that exist in Russia," he said in a Sunday interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" with Kristen Welker. "I would go all-in if Putin said 'no.'"
Other members of the administration, the publication writes, were much less supportive of Ukraine. Speaking at Turning Point USA's AmericaFest in Phoenix last weekend, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard accused the "deep state in the intelligence community" of stoking fear "as a way to justify continuing the war in their efforts to undermine President Trump's efforts for peace" - remarks that received praise from Russian representative Dmitriev, the publication notes.