US and Ukrainian negotiators meet in Miami with EU and NATO reps for peace talks

US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are meeting Ukrainian negotiators in Miami to discuss new proposals aimed at ending Russia's war in Ukraine. The talks, held over the weekend, are also attended by representatives from the European Union and NATO. A proposal on the table is understood to include possible post-war security guarantees for Ukraine.

The diplomatic push comes as the Kremlin signalled that it sees the conflict as a stalemate. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying Russia agreed with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the Ukraine conflict was in a stalemate. The comment was made to Russian news agencies.

Analysts said the Kremlin's language suggests Russia is not serious about peace talks. Peter Dickinson, editor of the Atlantic Council's Ukraine Alert, said Moscow appears to want to push on with its invasion and try to achieve its goals militarily. He warned that the word stalemate is misleading because fighting along the front lines is extremely intense and attacks on Ukrainian civilians are escalating. He added that expectations for progress toward peace are low.

From Ukraine's side, the talks are a chance to shore up American support. The involvement of European representatives helps normalise the idea that the peace process should involve both the United States and Europe. Ukraine is expected to seek reassurances on additional air defence support, especially Patriot interceptor missiles, which it says are vital against Russian ballistic missile attacks. President Volodymyr Zelensky has also pushed for access to Starlink for use against Russian launch sites.

On the ground in Kyiv, the situation remains severe. The capital has faced near-daily strikes since August, threatening power and transport. The mayor of Kyiv has said the city is in survival mode and has asked residents to consider leaving temporarily. A fifth freezing winter since the war began is approaching. Polls suggest as many as 40 percent of people living in Ukrainian cities are thinking of leaving if conditions worsen. Some families are already moving. One mother, Maria, is taking her children to Vienna and then Egypt, saying she does not feel safe in Ukraine. Another resident, Olena, has bought a house outside Kyiv to avoid targets such as factories, warehouses and railway stations.

The humanitarian picture has been sharpened by new criticism of a US deal with Russia. Former US ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor said an agreement by President Donald Trump with President Vladimir Putin to release millions of tonnes of Russian diesel onto the global market would be a mistake. He argued that sanctions were imposed because Russia invaded Ukraine and continues to attack defenceless civilians, which he described as war crimes. He said removing sanctions on war criminals sends the wrong message.

Taylor also assessed the battlefield. He said Ukrainian forces are holding their own and gaining some territory, while Russian forces are not doing well. In his view, Russia has changed strategy from trying to take ground to attacking civilians in an effort to batter Ukrainians into submission. He cited an attack on buses that killed 30 people. He said Ukraine urgently needs Patriot missiles from American or European stocks to defend against ballistic missiles. Ukraine can shoot down some jet-powered drones and is beginning to manufacture interceptors, but it has no substitute for Patriots against ballistic missile attacks.