Rubio Says 'More Work' Needed After US-Ukraine Talks, As Zelenskyy Heads To Paris

Top US and Ukrainian officials wrapped up their talks in Florida, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio calling the session "very productive" but saying additional work was needed in the effort to thrash out a plan to end Russia's war on Ukraine.

"We had another very productive session, building off [talks in] Geneva, building off the events of this week, but there's more work to be done," Rubio told reporters on November 30 following the meeting, without being specific.

"There are a lot of moving parts, and obviously there's another party involved here that will have to be a part of the equation," he said, referring to Russia.

"And that will continue later this week, when [White House special envoy Steve] Witkoff travels to Moscow...We've also been in touch in varying degrees with the Russian side, but we have a pretty good understanding of their views as well," Rubio added.

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Rustem Umerov, Ukraine's security council secretary and leader of Kyiv's delegation, hailed the negotiations as "meaningful and successful" but also did not discuss details.

"Concluded a difficult but productive session of negotiations in Florida. We have tangible progress toward establishing a just peace," he wrote on Telegram. "The meeting was meaningful and successful."

"There is still a lot of work to be done -- we continue to consult and agree on further steps for the sake of peace for Ukraine," he added.

AFP quoted an unnamed source close to the Ukraine team as saying the talks were "not easy" and that "the search for formulations and solutions continues."

The negotiating teams met in Hallandale, Florida, north of Miami, amid accelerating efforts to hammer out terms of a plan that would be acceptable to both Kyiv and Moscow.

Witkoff is scheduled in the upcoming week to travel to Moscow to meet with top Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin. It will be Witkoff's sixth meeting with Putin since January.

Early on November 30, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on social media that "the American side is demonstrating a constructive approach, and in the coming days it is feasible to flesh out the steps to determine how to bring the war to a dignified end.”

Zelenskyy later said he had spoken to leaders of the European Commission and NATO to help "coordinate positions" amid the peace negotiations.

"I spoke with [NATO chief] Mark Rutte, and we will continue our conversation in the coming days," Zelensky said.

Following a conversation with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, the Ukrainian president said, "We maintain full coordination with the European Commission, and I'm grateful for the support."

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Kyiv and its European allies are scrambling to develop an alternative proposal after Trump administration officials released a 28-point plan that echoed most of the hard-line terms Moscow has pressed since the start of its all-out invasion in February 2022.

For some Ukrainians, the plan amounted to capitulation after nearly four years of war that has killed or wounded well more than 1 million people on both sides.

French authorities announced that President Emmanuel Macron will host Zelenskyy in Paris on December 1 to discuss "the conditions for a just and lasting peace."

Macron has been one of Kyiv's strongest backers.

The initial 28-point US proposal, released last week, alarmed Ukrainian officials -- and reportedly angered Zelenskyy -- who then held their own talks with Rubio and other US officials in Geneva.

Those talks resulted in a 19-point plan that leaves several major issues on the table, including the fate of a chunk of Ukraine's Donbas region, the fate of Ukraine's NATO aspirations, and a potential cap on the size of Kyiv's armed forces.

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End Of A Dramatic Week

The diplomatic activity comes after a dramatic week that culminated in the resignation of Yermak, who submitted his resignation on November 28, hours after the anti-corruption investigators searched his office.

The raids grew out of a burgeoning scandal involving kickbacks made in connection with funds for defenses for Ukraine's vulnerable energy infrastructure. Two ministers have already been sacked.

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Yermak, who has not been directly accused of wrongdoing, said during the raids that investigators had been given "full access" to his apartment and that he was providing his "full cooperation.

Zelenskyy himself has not been directly implicated, though the scandal has turned into the worst political crisis of his more-than-six-years in office.

While struggling on the battlefield to hold back Russia's bigger, and better equipped military, Ukraine has hit targets inside of Russia with increasing frequency, going after oil and energy facilities.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's main intelligence agency released video purporting to show maritime drones targeting two "shadow fleet" tankers in the Black Sea. A global fleet of ships with murky registration and ownership records has been used by Russia to export oil while skirting Western sanctions.