KYIV, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Ukrainian peace negotiators will start a new round of talks on Friday with the U.S. team on proposals for ending the war with Russia, said the head of Kyiv's delegation, Rustem
Umerov.
Umerov, who is in the United States for the talks, also said on the Telegram messaging app that Kyiv's European partners would be involved.
"We are constructively minded. We have already held preliminary consultations with our European colleagues and are preparing for further discussions with the American side," Umerov said. "... Ukraine’s security must be guaranteed reliably and in the long term."
U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is pushing to bring an end to nearly four years of the war.
White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, held talks in Berlin with Ukrainian and European officials earlier this week.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that Ukraine and the United States had agreed on several documents, including a 20-point peace framework, security guarantees and a reconstruction plan for Ukraine. But he said that no aligned final proposals had been agreed, adding that the territorial issues remained unresolved.
Russian President Vladimir Putin offered no compromise on Friday on his terms for ending the war in Ukraine, saying the onus was on Ukraine and Europe to make the next move.
Witkoff and Kushner also plan to meet a Russian delegation in Miami this weekend, a White House official said.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that he may join a portion of talks on Ukraine on Saturday, as he said that progress has been made in discussions to end the war but there is still a way to go.
"In the end, it's up to them to make a deal. We can't force Ukraine to make a deal. We can't force Russia to make a deal. They have to want to make a deal," Rubio said.
"The role we're trying to play is a role of figuring out whether there's any overlap here that they can agree to, and that's what we've invested a lot of time and energy and continue to do so. That may not be possible. I hope it is. I hope it can get done this month before the end of the year."
(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa, Olena Harmash; Additional reporting by Simon Lewis and Daphne Psaledakis in Washington; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Diane Craft)
