Khaberni - New talks between US and Ukrainian officials are scheduled for Thursday in Florida in an attempt to find a way to end the war as Washington eased its sanctions on the Russian oil giant "Lukoil".
It is anticipated that US Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff and the President's son-in-law Jared Kushner, after returning from Moscow where they met with President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday without announcing any clear results, will meet with the chief Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Amrov, according to a US official who requested anonymity.
The meeting will be held in the evening in the suburbs of Miami.
The US and Ukrainian delegations met on Sunday near Miami, attended by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Over the past two weeks, Washington held several meetings to discuss its plan to end the war that erupted following the Russian wide-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
But reaching a significant settlement is extremely difficult as the Russian army continues to slowly advance on the front despite its major losses.
Witkoff and Kushner visited Moscow on Tuesday where they held talks for more than 5 hours with the Russian president.
US President Donald Trump described the meeting as "very good", confirming that Putin "wants to end the war."
The Russian president said in a media interview during a visit to India on Thursday that the ongoing negotiations are "complex," but it is necessary "to cooperate" with Washington's efforts rather than impede them.
He added that "reaching a consensus among competing parties is not an easy task, but President Trump is really trying, in my opinion, to do that," according to statements translated by India Today.
Putin continued, "I believe we should cooperate with these efforts rather than obstructing them."
- Partial lifting of US sanctions -
After recently tightening sanctions on Moscow, the US administration announced on Thursday that it had suspended part of them, especially those targeting the Russian oil giant "Lukoil", to allow fuel stations outside Russia to continue operating.
According to a statement issued by the US Treasury Department, transactions involving these fuel stations are allowed "to avoid penalizing" their customers and suppliers, provided that the revenues are not transferred to Russia.
The US exemption decision will be in effect until April 29, 2026.
In late October, the United States added Russia's two largest oil producing companies, "Lukoil" and "Rosneft," to its list of sanctioned entities.
In Beijing, French President Emmanuel Macron urged his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday to work towards ending the war in Ukraine, but his host strongly rejected any responsibility for the ongoing Ukrainian crisis.
Turkey, for its part, called on both Russia and Ukraine to "keep energy infrastructure out of the war" following Ukrainian attacks on a Russian oil station and ships from the "ghost fleet" used by Moscow to circumvent Western sanctions.
Ankara summoned the ambassadors of both countries on Thursday "to express its concerns" after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan described the maritime drone attacks on Monday as "a worrying escalation".
In the meantime, Germany pledged on Thursday to provide additional aid to Ukraine worth 100 million euros to repair its energy infrastructure which is under Russian attacks, but it will "strictly monitor" its use amid a corruption scandal shaking the Ukrainian government.
Finally, Ukraine accused Russia on Thursday of sending Ukrainian children "abducted" by Moscow from the territories occupied by the Russian military to "re-education" camps in North Korea.
Ukraine accuses Russia of abducting at least 20,000 Ukrainian children since the beginning of the war, with only 1850 of them having been recovered.
