Putin aide contradicts Witkoff, calling Miami talks ‘rather unconstructive’

A top aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday contradicted U.S. claims that three days of peace talks in Miami went well, calling several of Washington’s proposals meant to end Russia’s war with Ukraine “rather unconstructive.” Yury Ushakov, Putin’s top foreign policy aide, said most of the peace plan proposals the U.S. offered were put forward by Ukraine and Europe and would not suit Russia, Kremlin state news agency TASS reported. That assessment came after special envoy Steve Witkoff said Sunday that he, along with President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and White House senior adviser Josh Gruenbaum, “held productive and constructive meetings” with Russian Special Envoy Kirill Dmitriev to advance the Trump administration’s peace plan for Ukraine. Russian state news media reported that Dmitriev arrived in Miami on Saturday and immediately went into a meeting with Witkoff and Kushner. “Russia remains fully committed to achieving peace in Ukraine,” Witkoff said following the meeting, painting the talks in a positive light. “Russia highly values the efforts and support of the United States to resolve the Ukrainian conflict and re-establish global security.” Dmitriev also initially framed the discussions as positive, telling reporters Sunday that talks were “proceeding constructively” and would continue into Monday, according to TASS. Witkoff, Kushner and Gruenbaum also held a separate series of meetings with a Ukrainian delegation in Florida — which they also said were “productive and constructive” — with “key European National Security Advisors” joining the talks. “Ukraine remains fully committed to achieving a just and sustainable peace,” Witkoff said in a statement posted to X. “Our shared priority is to stop the killing, ensure guaranteed security, and create conditions for Ukraine’s recovery, stability, and long-term prosperity.” Negotiations over a ceasefire and peace agreement have ramped up in recent weeks, as the Trump administration seeks to broker an end to the conflict that began in February 2022. The U.S. initially proposed a 28-point plan on ending the war in Ukraine last month, before the latter countered with a 20-point framework earlier this month. Witkoff said the talks over the weekend focused on further development of the 20-point plan and aligning strategy between Ukraine, the United States and Europe. But Russia is not likely to accept the plan over land disputes, insisting Ukraine must cede territory that Moscow has occupied since 2014. Speaking at his annual end-of-year press conference last week, Putin said the responsibility for the war lies entirely with Ukraine and that “root causes” must be addressed to end the war. He also claimed that Russia launched a full-scale invasion against Ukraine in self-defense and that he would not be held responsible for rejecting a peace deal put forth by Trump, saying the responsibility lies with Ukraine. “The issue lies entirely on the other side, the ball is entirely in the court of our so-called Western adversaries, first and foremost the leaders of the Kyiv regime and, in this case especially, their European sponsors. We are ready for negotiations and to settle the conflict by peaceful means,” Putin said.