Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that the U.S. has offered a format for peace talks featuring Ukraine and Russia at the same table this weekend, but he voiced skepticism that such a trilateral discussion would yield concrete results.
“They proposed this format as far as I understand: Ukraine, America, Russia,” Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv. He added that it would be “logical to hold such a joint meeting … after we understand the potential results of the meeting that has already taken place” in Berlin.
Zelenskyy said separately that the suggested trilateral meeting would be at the level of national security advisers. But he questioned its potential to make substantial progress in the negotiations over a peace deal.
“I am not sure something new would come of that. We already had such a format of meetings in Istanbul,” Zelenskyy told journalists in a WhatsApp chat on Saturday.
Ukrainian and Russian representatives last met face-to-face in July in Istanbul, but little progress emerged from that meeting beyond prisoner swaps. Zelenskyy called the POW exchanges “very important” despite the lack of other progress in the peace talks in Turkey.
If a trilateral meeting in Florida “can now happen and can unblock” more prisoner exchanges, or “be the preparation of three leaders meeting, I would welcome it,” Zelenskyy said.
“There are very important and difficult issues that must be decided at the leaders’ level. So how can I be against such a meeting,” Zelenskyy said.
He said the most important issues for Kyiv in the peace talks are the disposition of Ukrainian territories, security guarantees and the operation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
Whether the trilateral talks occur at all depends on the results of U.S.-Ukrainian negotiations that began on Friday, Zelenskyy told journalists. If they do take place, a European delegation that is also now in Florida may join the discussion, he said.
U.S. lead negotiator Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner reportedly met with Ukraine’s delegation, led by Rustem Umerov, on Friday in Miami. This follows the recent trip to Berlin by Witkoff and Kushner to meet with Ukrainian and European officials.
The discussions in Germany resulted in the U.S. offering Kyiv security guarantees similar to those it would receive as a member of NATO, American officials said. The offer is the strongest and most explicit security pledge the Trump administration has put forward for Ukraine.
“It is extremely important to have strong security guarantees in place to prevent even the thought or the physical ability to come back to us with aggression,” Zelenskyy said in a post on X Saturday afternoon. “Peace is better than war, but not at any cost, because we have already paid a high price,” he added.
“What matters for us is a just, durable peace — one that cannot be violated by another whim of Putin or any other Putin-like figure,” the Ukrainian leader said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s representative in the talks over a Ukraine peace deal, Kirill Dmitriev, was set to meet Saturday with the U.S. negotiating team in Florida. Dmitriev wrote on X that he is “on the way to Miami,” sharing a video of the sun breaking through clouds.
“As warmongers keep working overtime to undermine the U.S. peace plan for Ukraine, I remembered this video from my previous visit — light breaking through the storm clouds,” said Dmitriev.
Zelenskyy hailed the decision by EU leaders this week to raise €90 billion, backed by the EU budget, to bolster Kyiv’s war chest, calling the move “a major, tangible, and important victory, and not only financially.”
“The allocation of €90 billion by Europe, which in any case is linked to Russian assets, is an unprecedented decision, and it will also have an impact on the peace negotiations. Ukraine will be in a stronger position,” Zelenskyy said in a post on X.
“The funds are earmarked for 2026-2027, and we are counting on using all 210 billion of the Russian assets. We understand that the interest-free loans — 90 billion — will only be repaid by Ukraine if Russia pays reparations to Ukraine,” he said.
The U.S. is currently pushing a proposal that would likely require Ukraine to give up parts of its territory, a sticking point that Ukrainians are reluctant to accept.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that “there’s no peace deal unless Ukraine agrees to it,” adding that he may also take part in the potential talks between Russia and Ukraine.
“But there’s also no peace deal unless Russia agrees to it,” Rubio said. ″So our job is not to force anything on anyone. It is to try to figure out if we can nudge both sides to a common place.”
Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported Saturday that Russia has lost almost 1,200,000 troops since the beginning of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
This article has been updated.
