Ukraine and the US will hold talks in Miami on Saturday to discuss security guarantees and Ukraine’s economic recovery, Kyiv’s ambassador to the US, Olga Stefanishyna, said on Friday. Zelenskyy said he hoped Ukraine would sign security guarantees with the US next week, possibly at the World Economic Forum in Davos. In Miami, Ukraine’s negotiators would be Kyrylo Budanov, head of the presidential office, and Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s defence council secretary, the ambassador said, without naming the US participants. They would discuss security guarantees and postwar reconstruction. “The goal of the visit is to finalise these agreements with our American partners,” said Stefanishyna.
A majority of Ukrainians would strongly oppose withdrawing troops from the remainder of the Donetsk region still controlled by Kyiv in exchange for European and US security guarantees, a poll released on Friday indicated. The Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) said 54% of Ukrainians categorically rejected the idea; 39% would reluctantly accept. “Those who are ready to agree expect quite significant security guarantees,” said KIIS executive director Anton Hrushetskyi. The survey was conducted in early January among 601 respondents on Ukrainian-controlled territory.
Almost 70% did not believe current negotiations would lead to a lasting peace, with 57% believing Russia would attack again if there was a ceasefire at the current frontlines and security guarantees from allies. Even if security guarantees were given, 40% believed the US would not provide support in the event of renewed Russian invasion, against 39% who thought it would. Russia has publicly shown little interest in scaling down its demands and made few comments regarding the 20-point peace framework that Ukraine and the US have been trying to finalise.
Russia and Ukraine on Friday agreed to a localised ceasefire to allow repairs on the last remaining backup powerline at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, according to the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the IAEA. Zaporizhzhia is the biggest nuclear power plant in Europe and has been illegally occupied by Russian forces since March 2022. Its six reactors have been shut down since the occupation but it still needs electricity to keep its nuclear fuel safely cooled.