US envoys open Miami talks on Ukraine peace framework, security guarantees and energy ceasefire

US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner opened two days of talks with Ukrainian and European officials in Miami on 9 October 2026, France 24 and RFE/RL reported. The session followed a briefing Witkoff and Kushner gave President Donald Trump on 8 October. A senior US administration official described the purpose as identifying areas where the conflicting parties could cooperate 'even where their positions remain different.' The talks are the first to bring together American envoys, Ukraine's presidential office, and European security advisers in a single format, ahead of proposed direct US-Ukraine-Russia negotiations that the Trump administration has said it wants to hold before the end of October.

Delegations and format

Ukraine's delegation was led by Kyrylo Budanov, head of the presidential office, and included Rustem Umerov, director of the Foreign Intelligence Service; Davyd Arakhamia, leader of the Servant of the People parliamentary faction; and Serhiy Kyslytsya, first deputy head of the presidential office. A second session brought in national security advisers from the United Kingdom, France and Germany, together with representatives of NATO and the European Union, as well as officials from the US National Security Council and the Treasury Department, RFE/RL reported.

The inclusion of Treasury officials alongside the NSC delegation points to a dual track in the US approach: political arrangements on ceasefire lines and security guarantees, and economic architecture covering postwar reconstruction financing. No Russian delegation attended the Miami session.

Agenda: ceasefire proposals and security guarantees

Three areas dominated the agenda, according to Hromadske and France 24: security guarantees for Ukraine in any post-conflict arrangement, a plan for postwar economic recovery, and a partial ceasefire covering strikes on energy infrastructure and the reopening of the Black Sea grain corridor. The energy ceasefire proposal has been under discussion since at least September 2026, when Secretary of State Marco Rubio said both Russia and Ukraine had signalled interest in a limited arrangement of this type, though Russia gave no public confirmation.

Ukraine has separately received ceasefire proposals from the United States, India, Turkey and Egypt. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Kyiv was prepared to consider a truce covering energy infrastructure and the Black Sea, describing India's formulation as the broadest of the four offers received. The Miami talks are intended to consolidate a Western position before any of these tracks advances to a bilateral or trilateral format.

Trilateral track and Russian air strikes

President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on 4 October that the US had proposed holding technical-level trilateral talks between Washington, Kyiv and Moscow before the end of October. Zelensky told reporters that Ukraine was open to the UAE or any other venue the US side proposed, and that his office had spoken with the US negotiating team on 3 October. No date had been agreed as of the opening of the Miami session, and Witkoff and Kushner have not confirmed a planned visit to Moscow, the Kyiv Independent reported.

The diplomatic activity is running alongside an intensification of Russian strikes on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure. RFE/RL reported that the Miami talks opened amid a series of Russian attacks on power, heat and water supply systems, which European participants cited as a source of urgency over winter energy preparations. The energy ceasefire proposal, if agreed, would halt mutual strikes on power generation and transmission facilities; it would leave front-line positions and territorial questions for later stages of any negotiation.

The partial ceasefire proposal discussed in Miami would restrict strikes on power generation and transmission infrastructure and on the Black Sea shipping corridor through which Ukrainian grain and oilseed exports move to global markets. Ukraine's delegation was reported by France 24 to have conditioned any energy truce on Russian withdrawal of forces from the occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Europe's largest, which the International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly warned remains at risk of radiological incident. The US side presented a monitoring mechanism under which satellite imagery and IAEA inspectors would verify compliance, with automatic suspension of the energy truce if either side resumed attacks on listed infrastructure categories. No agreement was reached on that mechanism during the first day of talks, and a readout from the US side described the session as preliminary and exploratory, according to RFE/RL.

Sources

• France 24 — Trump envoys, European officials to discuss 'new ideas' for Ukraine peace in Miami
• RFE/RL — US, Ukraine Set For Talks In Miami Amid Onslaught Of Russian Air Strikes
• Kyiv Independent — US proposes trilateral talks with Russia, Ukraine by end of October, Zelensky says
• Hromadske — US to present new Ukraine peace proposals at Miami talks, Axios reports
• Daily Sabah — Russia, Ukraine signal interest in limited cease-fire: Rubio
• France 24 — US wants to hold trilateral Ukraine talks with Russia by end of October, Zelensky says