Umerov, Witkoff to meet in Miami for talks in coming days

Prefer on Google by Sonya Bandouil Rustem Umerov stands in the Ukrainian parliament during voting on his nomination as defense minister in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sept. 6, 2023. (Andrii Nesterenko / AFP via Getty Images) Rustem Umerov, the secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, is expected to meet U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in Miami as early as this week, Bloomberg reported on May 6. The planned bilateral meeting would mark the first known high-level contact between Kyiv and Washington in weeks, after negotiations have stalled with the start of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran . A White House official confirmed that preparations for the upcoming meeting are underway. The sources declined to specify the agenda of the possible talks, leaving unclear whether the discussions will focus on ceasefire proposals, broader peace terms, or U.S. military assistance. In a recent interview with Bloomberg, President Volodymyr Zelensky said both Witkoff and fellow envoy Jared Kushner had been invited to Ukraine for discussions, but no meeting was ultimately confirmed. The expected meeting comes a week after U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a 90-minute phone call on April 29, which Trump later described as “very good.”