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U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said talks in Florida between American, Ukrainian and European officials have produced concrete progress toward a structured peace framework, fueling signs that negotiations to end Russia’s war in Ukraine may be entering a decisive phase.
“Over the last three days in Florida, the Ukrainian delegation held a series of productive and constructive meetings with American and European partners,” Witkoff wrote on X. “The Ukrainian delegation included Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Rustem Umerov, and the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lieutenant General Andriy Hnatov.”
The American delegation included Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and White House staff member Josh Gruenbaum, alongside key national security advisors from Europe.
“A separate constructive meeting was also held in a U.S.–Ukraine format, during which four key documents were focused on: further development of a 20-point plan, aligning positions on a Multilateral security guarantee framework, aligning positions on a US Security guarantee framework for Ukraine, and further development on an economic & prosperity plan,” Witkoff said. “Particular attention was given to discussing timelines and the sequencing of next steps.
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“Ukraine remains fully committed to achieving a just and sustainable peace,” he continued. “Our shared priority is to stop the killing, ensure guaranteed security, and create conditions for Ukraine’s recovery, stability, and long-term prosperity. Peace must be not only a cessation of hostilities, but also a dignified foundation for a stable future.
“Ukraine highly values the leadership and support of the United States and the continued close coordination with its partners in the next stages of this important work,” Witkoff concluded.
The special envoy’s comments come after Finland President Alexander Stubb said Sunday that negotiators are closer than at any point during the war to securing a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, crediting U.S. diplomacy and pressure from sanctions on Russian oil as talks enter what he described as their most difficult final stage.
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Steve Witkoff reported significant progress in the peace talks. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“We’re probably closer [to reaching a peace agreement] than we have been at any time of this war,” Stubb said on “The Sunday Briefing.”
He added that Kushner and Witkoff have spent the past several weeks “working around the clock” to narrow differences between the two sides.
Stubb also credited unity between Western allies after talks last weekend in Berlin, making note of two key takeaways.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, front row from left, and Onas Gahr, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Ursula von der Leyen, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, back row from left, stand together in the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, on Dec. 15, 2025. (Markus Schreiber, Pool/AP)
“One was that Europe, Ukraine and the United States were united in our resolve to get a just and lasting peace… and the second one was the idea of security guarantees for Ukraine,” Stubb said. “So, we’re sort of almost there, but the most difficult 5% are still left.”
Stubb said Russia’s private negotiating posture may be more flexible than President Vladimir Putin’s public rhetoric but warned Moscow’s core objective remains the destruction of Ukraine’s existence.
The Finnish president added that he has been in close contact with Trump, Witkoff and Kushner as talks intensify, arguing that mounting economic pressure on Russia is making the negotiating strategy effective.
U.S. sanctions on Russian oil giants Lukoil and Rosneft are biting, Stubb said, warning that a flat rejection of a U.S.-Ukraine-Europe peace framework should trigger even tougher measures.
He argued that U.S. sanctions targeting Russian oil giants Lukoil and Rosneft have been particularly effective.
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If Russia were to flatly reject a peace framework agreed upon by Ukraine, Europe and the U.S., “that’s when it’s time to hike up the sanctions,” Stubb said, “because they work.”
Fox News Digital’s Max Bacall contributed to this report.
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