After nearly four years of brutal fighting, the war between Russia and Ukraine may finally be inching toward a negotiated end.

Yesterday, top U.S. and Ukrainian officials met behind closed doors in South Florida to hammer out the outlines of a possible peace deal.

The talks took place at Steve Witkoff’s Shell Bay golf resort, just north of Miami, and stretched for more than four hours.

On the American side were Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Representing Ukraine was Rustem Umerov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council — standing in for Andriy Yermak, one of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s closest aides who resigned amid a corruption scandal.

• Yermak, President Zelensky’s powerful chief of staff and lead wartime negotiator, resigned on Friday, Nov. 28 after anti-corruption investigators raided his home and office.

• The probe into Yermak’s dealings centers on an alleged $100 million kickback scheme linked to the state nuclear company Energoatom.

Though Yermak hasn’t been charged, his departure — just as U.S.-brokered peace talks gained momentum — shakes Kyiv’s leadership and underscores deep corruption inside Zelensky’s government.

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After Sunday’s meeting, Rubio called the session “productive,” but cautioned that the negotiations remain “delicate and complicated,” noting that Russia — the “other party in the equation” — has yet to formally join the talks.

Umerov was similarly restrained, calling the discussions “successful” but declining to provide specifics.

According to officials briefed on the outcome, the meeting centered on a revised version of a 28-point U.S. peace plan that’s circulated among diplomats since October.

Ukraine criticized that early proposal for leaning too heavily in Moscow’s favor, offering caps on the size of Ukraine’s military, for instance, and permanent restrictions on NATO membership while leaving Russian forces largely unbound.

The Florida talks appear to have narrowed that framework substantially, focusing on territorial boundaries, security guarantees and the prospect of holding new elections in Ukraine once fighting ceases.

Still, the same core problems that doomed earlier rounds of diplomacy remain unresolved.

Moscow continues to demand that Ukrainian troops withdraw from the Donbas region — including areas still under Kyiv’s control — and that Ukraine formally recognize Russian sovereignty over Crimea.

Kyiv has rejected those terms as unacceptable, arguing that any territorial concessions would require a national referendum and could not be imposed under wartime law.

The U.S. delegation’s goal, according to a senior official quoted by Reuters, was to “explore a pathway to a cease-fire that is enforceable and enduring.”

To that end, Witkoff and Kushner are expected to travel to Moscow in the coming days to present the draft framework directly to President Vladimir Putin.

Whether Putin will accept even preliminary terms remains unclear; in public comments last week, he said he was open to “serious” negotiations but repeated his demand that Ukrainian forces abandon all of Donetsk and Luhansk — a nonstarter for Kyiv.

For the Ukrainian government, the timing of the Florida talks marks a political turning point. The country is battered. The front lines have barely moved in over a year. Millions of civilians remain displaced.

Inside Ukraine, corruption scandals and growing fatigue have eroded Zelensky’s once-towering popularity. And abroad, patience among allies is wearing thin.

All of this leaves Zelensky with shrinking room to maneuver.

The Ukrainian leader faces the same cold calculus that every wartime president eventually encounters: the limits of manpower, money and public support.

With his allies’ resolve fading and his military no longer advancing, he appears increasingly willing to consider a cease-fire that once seemed unthinkable.

For the Trump administration, the Florida meeting represents the most serious diplomatic effort since the invasion began.

Rubio’s presence underscored that this is no sideshow; it is now a front-burner initiative with the full backing of the White House.

If Witkoff’s follow-up talks in Moscow gain traction, U.S. officials hope that both Kyiv and Moscow could agree to a preliminary cease-fire framework before the end of the year.

Whether that happens will depend largely on Putin — and on whether Zelensky can sell compromise at home without losing his remaining political capital.

For now, the Florida talks have at least reopened a door that has been shut for almost four years.

As Rubio told reporters over the weekend: “We don’t just want to end the war. We want Ukraine to be safe forever, so it never faces another invasion.”

The question is whether that vision can survive contact with the realities on the ground — and whether all sides are finally ready to stop the bleeding.

Market Rundown for Monday, December 1, 2025

S&P 500 futures are down 0.65% to 6,815.

Oil’s up almost 1% to $59.10 for a barrel of WTI.

Gold is up 0.90% to $4,287.60 per ounce.

Bitcoin’s down 5% this morning to $85,800.