Ukraine's top negotiator, Rustem Umerov, has arrived in Miami for meetings with U.S. representatives, a source said, marking a new movement in diplomatic activity as mediated peace discussions have stalled in recent months.
Kyiv had hoped that U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would travel to Ukraine earlier this spring, but that visit did not take place. The source who reported Umerov's arrival declined to provide further details on the Miami meetings. Observers note that Washington's attention has shifted considerably amid developments stemming from the war in Iran, reducing focus on Ukraine.
The U.S.-brokered negotiations have been mired in a stalemate centered on the eastern Donetsk region. Moscow's position is that Kyiv should pull back its troops from certain parts of Donetsk that Russian forces have been unable to seize during the four-year full-scale invasion. Ukraine has maintained that it will not cede control over territory it currently administers.
The last trilateral round of talks that involved Ukrainian, Russian and U.S. representatives took place in February. Since that meeting, Ukrainian and Russian officials have engaged only in separate discussions with the U.S. team, rather than in a single joint session.
On April 29, U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by telephone about the possibility of a ceasefire. Russia subsequently announced a ceasefire for May 8 to 9, coinciding with the dates on which it commemorates the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany and stages a major military parade in Moscow, an event of marked significance to the Kremlin.
Ukraine said it believed Russia's declared pause was intended primarily to safeguard that parade amid concerns about Ukrainian drone activity, and Kyiv proposed an open-ended ceasefire beginning on May 6. Neither side accepted the other's proposal.
In the exchange of threats and counter-accusations around the proposed ceasefires, Russia warned it would strike central Kyiv if Ukraine launched an attack on Moscow. Ukraine accused Russia of breaching the ceasefire and said it would respond in kind to any violations.
Context limitations: The source confirming Umerov's arrival provided no additional specifics about the meetings in Miami. The account of recent diplomatic contacts and ceasefire offers is based on statements and announcements by the parties involved.