Ukrainian officials in Miami for peace talks, hoping to sign security guarantees with Trump as early as next week

A Ukrainian delegation was in Miami Saturday to sign off on a pair of key peace documents it hopes to ink with the US next week on the world stage, while the war-torn country faced freezing temps and another wave of Russian attacks on its electricity grid back home.

The Ukrainian team — led by Chief of Staff Kyrylo Budanov — met in a high-level sitdown with US envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner to iron out details of US security guarantees to deter future Russian aggression and postwar reconstruction for Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hopes to put pen to paper next week in Switzerland, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, where Trump said he may meet the Ukrainian leader.

“I would — if he’s there,” he told Reuters. “I’m going to be there.”

An economic deal between the two countries is also close to being finalized in Florida — using the blueprint of the minerals deal signed last year — that grants US companies preferential access to Ukraine’s critical minerals.

Zelensky said Ukraine needs about $800 billion in reconstruction investments over the next decade to get back on its feet after Russia’s invasion is ended.

While in Miami, the Ukrainian delegation also hoped to get clarity from the US on where Russian strongman Vladimir Putin stands in the diplomatic efforts to end the war — with growing pressure on Kyiv to concede the Donbas region.

“I think we have worked well with the American side, we are just not on the same side on some issues,” Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv Friday.

Russia would still need to be consulted on the more contentious parts of the peace proposals, like territorial concessions.

Zelensky again blamed Putin for intentionally stalling peace efforts, as Moscow ramped up strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid into Saturday, leaving tens of thousands without power across the country including in Kyiv, Odesa and Kharkiv.

“Each of these strikes against our energy sector and our cities quite clearly shows Russia’s real interests and intentions,” Zelensky posted on social media. “They are not interested in agreements, but in the further destruction of Ukraine.”

Ukraine needs to ramp up electricity imports, he said, with the system so badly damaged it can only meet 60% of its energy generation needs.

“This is not a case of patch it up a bit and move on,” Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov wrote on Telegram.

“The energy sector is now in very poor condition — reserves are not unlimited, the load is at its peak, and any new damage immediately eats up the capacity needed for stabilization,” he added.

Moscow has pummeled Ukraine’s power grid with more than 600 attacks on energy targets over the last year, according to the country’s energy minister, with the barrage intensifying in recent months as temperatures plunge below zero.

With Post Wires