Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy convened his negotiating team on 02 December 2025 for a detailed briefing following their meetings in the United States, emphasizing that discussions addressed sensitive matters requiring face-to-face dialogue as the Trump administration prepares for high-stakes talks with Vladimir Putin.
The timing underscores the precarious moment Ukraine faces: negotiations built on the revised Geneva framework continue just as US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are scheduled to meet Putin in Moscow—the sixth such Witkoff-Putin meeting this year. Ukraine managed to pare down an initial 28-point American proposal that experts described as "devastating for both Ukrainian and European security" to a 19-point framework, but core questions of territory, military limitations, and NATO membership remain unresolved.
Geneva framework refined during Florida negotiations
Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov reported on key points raised by the American side during Sunday's talks in Florida, where Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Witkoff, and Kushner met the Ukrainian delegation at Witkoff's Shell Bay club near Miami.
"We discussed in person the matters that cannot be addressed over the phone," Zelenskyy stated in his Facebook post.
The work built on the Geneva document, which Kyiv and Washington agreed to last weekend. That agreement removed some of the most problematic elements of the original 28-point proposal—including explicit bans on NATO membership and caps on Ukraine's armed forces—but left territorial questions and long-term security architecture "in brackets" for presidential decisions.
Intelligence briefing addresses frontline realities
Zelenskyy expressed gratitude to Andrii Hnatov for providing American partners "a very substantive briefing" on actual battlefield conditions. With intelligence representatives participating, discussions covered the feasibility of various frontline steps and challenges in ensuring protection from Russian strikes should a ceasefire materialize.
The briefing comes amid intense fighting in eastern Ukraine. Chief of the General Staff Andrii Hnatov told Liga.net that more than 100,000 Russian troops are currently concentrated in the Pokrovsk sector, with Moscow "bringing all available reserves there." Despite over a year of Russian attempts to capture the city, Hnatov said Ukraine's forces continue stopping the enemy and inflicting significant losses.
Ukraine flags Moscow's diplomatic playbook
The Ukrainian president said, "we note that the Russians have already launched new disinformation campaigns in view of preparations for their upcoming meetings with the American side."
This warning echoes previous Ukrainian assessments. Deputy Foreign Minister Serhiy Kyslytsya revealed that during the 2022 Istanbul talks, Russian negotiators proposed creating joint WhatsApp groups rather than addressing substantive issues—using the appearance of diplomatic activity as cover while pursuing military objectives.
Ukrainian intelligence will provide partners with "all available information regarding Russia's true intentions and its attempts to use diplomatic engagement as cover to weaken sanctions and block important collective European decisions," Zelenskyy stated in his post.
European coordination continues
Ukrainian diplomats are actively working to ensure European countries and Coalition of the Willing participants are "meaningfully involved in developing decisions." Zelenskyy informed his team about his conversations with European leaders and Witkoff, which took place earlier in Paris.
"Ukraine approaches all diplomatic efforts with utmost seriousness—we are committed to achieving a real peace and guaranteed security," Zelenskyy said. "This is exactly the level of commitment that must be compelled from the Russian side, and this task can be accomplished only together with our partners."
The next test of these commitments comes this week, when the results of Witkoff's sixth meeting with Putin in Moscow emerge—and the picture of Russian tactics grows clearer.
