US-Ukraine talks focus on territorial issue, writes Axios

Negotiations between the U.S. and Ukraine on Sunday focused on where the de facto border with Russia would be drawn under a peace deal, Axios writes, referring to two Ukrainian officials.

The negotiations took place in Florida. The U.S. delegation was led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, while the Ukrainian delegation was headed by Rustem Umerov, Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council.

“The talks between the U.S. and Ukraine on Sunday centered on the question of where, under a peace agreement, the de facto border with Russia would lie,” the report said. According to Axios’ sources, the discussions were difficult and tense, but also productive. They lasted for about five hours.

According to the outlet, the U.S. side hoped to achieve progress on the territorial issue—progress that President Donald Trump’s special representative, Steve Witkoff, could then present to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The report notes that the meeting, held in a narrow format, included Rubio, Witkoff and Jared Kushner on the U.S. side, while Kyiv was represented by Umerov, Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff Andriy Ihnatov, and Vadym Skibitskyi, Deputy Head of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Directorate. After the delegation-level negotiations, Umerov held a separate meeting with Witkoff, following which he called President Volodymyr Zelensky to brief him on the outcomes.