(MENAFN) US-Ukraine discussions on Sunday centered on defining the potential de facto border with Russia, Ukrainian officials told Axios. The five-hour session in Florida was described as “difficult” and “intense” but ultimately productive.

The talks are part of efforts to prepare for a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US special envoy Steve Witkoff this week. Putin has insisted that Russia will not pause its offensive until it controls the entire Donbas region.

The US is pressing Ukraine to concede some territory to facilitate a peace deal, a politically sensitive step for Kyiv. The delegation, which met at Witkoff’s private Shell Bay golf club near Miami, included Witkoff, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Jared Kushner, while Ukraine was represented by national security adviser Rustem Umerov, Armed Forces chief of staff Andrii Hnatov, and deputy military intelligence chief Vadym Skibitskyi.

After the main discussions, Umerov and Witkoff held a private session, and Umerov later briefed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the outcomes.

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