Ukrainian officials to meet Trump's top team in Florida today after Putin accused of 'wasting the world's time'
It comes after Putin warned Russia is 'ready for war' with Europe
Donald Trump’s top team will meet with the head of Ukraine’s security council for talks in Miami, Florida, today amid fears the peace process has stalled.
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US special envoy Steve Witkoff, alongside Mr Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, will sit down with Rustem Umerov just two days after the Americans failed to secure Russian support for their recently drafted 20-point peace plan,
It comes after Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha accused Vladimir Putin of "wasting the world's time" by stalling peace talks.
After talks ended without an agreement, Mr Sybiha said: "Russia must end the bloodshed it has started. If this doesn't happen and Putin just spits into the world's face once again, there must be consequences."
Read More: Zelenskyy’s meeting with Trump's top team cancelled as Ukraine peace talks stall
Mr Subiha added that the US delegation in Moscow had told colleagues that talks were of "positive significance" for the prospect of peace.
The Kremlin, for its part, denies rejecting the 20-point peace plan.
Speaking on Wednesday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said it is “wrong” to say Russia has rejected the peace deal and said the talks were only “an exchange of opinions” rather than concrete negotiations.
Despite delays, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a meeting between Ukrainian and US envoys is scheduled to take place soon.
On Wednesday, he said: “The world clearly feels that there is a real opportunity to end the war."
The US-Russia talks followed days of US meetings with Ukrainian and European leaders, after concerns had been expressed that a deal was being hatched that was too slanted towards Russia's demands.
Little concrete headway appears to have been made during the Kremlin talks in reconciling Moscow and Kyiv's positions.
Before the new round of talks got underway, President Putin gave a startling statement, declaring: "We are not planning to go to war with Europe, but if Europe wants to and starts, we are ready right now."