Kyiv [Ukraine], December 2: US and Ukrainian officials held a round of talks in Florida on November 30 that both sides said were "effective" on an agreement to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict, according to Reuters. Speaking after the talks, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he was optimistic about progress despite many challenges in ending the nearly four-year war.
"We're realistic about the difficulty, but also optimistic, especially given the fact that as the negotiations have progressed, I think there's a shared vision that this is not just about ending the fighting, but about securing a future for Ukraine , a future that we hope will be more prosperous than ever before," Rubio said. The US secretary of state said Washington 's goal is to build a roadmap for Ukraine to maintain its sovereignty and long-term stability.
The latest talks come two weeks after the US released a draft peace plan. Critics said the initial proposal was too biased towards Russian interests. But so far, Ukraine's National Security Council Secretary Rustem Umerov said on November 30 that Kyiv "has made significant progress in promoting peace with honor and has reached a consensus with the US side after a difficult but productive round of negotiations." He stressed that Ukraine's core goals - security, sovereignty and sustainable peace - remain the same and are supported by Washington.
On the same day, US President Donald Trump said there was a "good chance" of reaching an agreement between Russia and Ukraine after the latest negotiations, but warned that the corruption scandal rocking Kyiv could be detrimental to the peace process.
According to The Kyiv Independent , the results of this round of negotiations pave the way for a visit to Moscow by US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Mr. Jared Kushner - President Trump's son-in-law. The US delegation is expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on December 2 to continue discussing the peace agreement in Ukraine.
In another development, the Financial Times quoted Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, head of the NATO Military Committee , as saying that the alliance is considering a more proactive approach, capable of taking "preemptive" action instead of just reacting to what it considers aggressive actions by Russia. He admitted that this direction goes beyond NATO's traditional practice and poses challenges in terms of legal framework and deployment mechanism. The statement was made in the context of Vilnius Airport (Lithuania) having to temporarily suspend operations on November 30 due to suspicions of a balloon entering airspace, the latest incident in a series of recent aviation disruptions in the Baltic country.
Source: Thanh Nieu Newspaper