US, Ukraine, and Europe hold talks on ending war as Trump announces diesel deal with Putin

MIAMI – American, Ukrainian and European officials met in Miami on Oct 9 in a renewed diplomatic push to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, with Washington seeking a way out of the dangerous stalemate.

The talks were overshadowed by United States President Donald Trump’s announcement of a deal with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to boost diesel supplies, underscoring how the conflict has become entwined with soaring energy prices.

US envoy Steve Witkoff posted on X after the meeting that the “constructive discussions” tackled “potential avenues to de-escalate and conclude the war with Russia ahead of winter and advance efforts towards a durable and lasting peace”.

He said the meeting included “the E3, the European Commission, Ukraine and NATO”.

The discussions covered energy resilience, grain exports, security guarantees and “longer-term arrangements for Ukraine’s and Europe’s security to prevent future conflict”, he said.

He also noted the “productive” exchange discussed supporting Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction and economic prosperity, including European Union accession.

Witkoff did not say if the parties would meet on Oct 10 as originally planned.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned on Oct 8 that the conflict had reached a potentially explosive impasse, with the failure to reach a negotiated settlement raising the risk of further escalation.

“The other way that stalemates end is through escalation,” Rubio told reporters in Lisbon, warning that the conflict could spread to neighbouring NATO countries.

“We do not believe that there is a military solution to this conflict,” he added.

Trump has blamed Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries for surging fuel prices, although the US-Israeli war with Iran has been the principal disruptor of global energy supplies.

Following a telephone call with Putin on Oct 9, Trump said Russia would immediately supply more than 300,000 tonnes of diesel to US and global markets, with another 500,000 tonnes to follow in November.

The US Treasury Department said it was issuing a temporary licence to allow Russian diesel to flow to global markets. It was not immediately clear whether Trump and Putin had discussed Ukraine during their call.

The Miami meeting follows visits to Moscow and Kyiv in September by Witkoff, a long-time Trump confidant, and Jared Kushner, the President’s son-in-law, as Washington seeks to revive negotiations that have yielded little progress.

US negotiators have since been developing fresh proposals with Russian and Ukrainian officials, a source familiar with the discussions told AFP.

With winter approaching, the prospect of continued fighting and attacks on vital infrastructure has added urgency to the search for a settlement.

The renewed diplomacy comes against a backdrop of deadly Russian attacks, including a strike on buses in the front-line Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk that killed 30 people.

Trump’s repeated attempts to broker an end to the war have foundered over Moscow’s sweeping territorial demands, particularly its insistence on controlling all of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, including areas still held by Kyiv.

Zelensky has rejected surrendering Ukrainian-held territory, warning that Russia could use it as a springboard for another attack.

Russia, which launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, now occupies roughly one-fifth of Ukrainian territory.

European officials have expressed concern over high energy costs and the wider economic consequences of the conflict, according to the US sources.

Witkoff and Kushner briefed the President on their latest proposals on Oct 8 at a meeting also attended by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other senior officials, American news website Axios reported.

The US administration hopes to make diplomatic headway before November’s midterm elections, with Washington also seeking to arrange broader talks involving Russia and Ukraine later in October.

The Kremlin has signalled that such three-way negotiations could resume in October, although no date has been announced. AFP