US push for an end to the war in Ukraine sets off a flurry of shuttle diplomacy

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FILE - Andrii Yermak, then-Ukraine’s presidential chief of staff, second right, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, right, talk to the press as their consultations continue at the U.S. Mission to International Organizations in Geneva, on Nov. 23, 2025. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP, File)

FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, center-left, Russian presidential foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov, left, and Russian Direct Investment Fund CEO Kirill Dmitriev, right, attend talks with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, right back to a camera, and Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, left back to a camera, in Moscow, on Dec. 2, 2025. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File) — FILE - Andrii Yermak, then-Ukraine’s presidential chief of staff, second right, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, right, talk to the press as their consultations continue at the U.S. Mission to International Organizations in Geneva, on Nov. 23, 2025. (Martial Trezzini/Keystone via AP, File)

Audio By Carbonatix

1:18 PM on Thursday, December 4

By The Associated Press

The latest U.S. push to end Russia’s nearly 4-year-old war in Ukraine has unleashed a frenzy of diplomatic activity.

Negotiators and officials from the U.S., Ukraine and Russia have crisscrossed the globe in recent weeks in a flurry of meetings to discuss a potential deal.

Here is a timeline of key talks.

Nov. 19: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy travels to Turkey in what he said was an effort to jump-start negotiations on ending the war. Reports emerge soon after of a 28-point peace plan drafted by the U.S. and Russia that critics say leans heavily in Moscow’s favor.

Nov. 20: U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll travels to the Ukrainian capital and meets Zelenskyy to brief him on the U.S.-backed peace proposal.

Nov. 23: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets a Ukrainian delegation headed by then-presidential chief of staff Andrii Yermak for talks in Geneva. Both sides say that progress had been made but provide few details. Yermak also meets with European security officials.

Nov. 24-25: Driscoll meets Russian officials in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, says the parties do not discuss the new peace plan in detail.

Nov. 30: A Ukrainian delegation led by Rustem Umerov meets U.S. officials in Florida. Umerov replaced Yermak, who resigned amid a corruption scandal involving the country’s energy sector.

Dec. 1: Zelenskyy travels to Paris to meet French President Emmanuel Macron and briefs him on the outcome of the Florida talks, as a U.S. delegation heads to Moscow for talks with Russian officials.

Dec. 2: Putin meets Witkoff and U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner at the Kremlin for five hours. Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev and Ushakov, the senior Putin adviser, were also present. Ushakov describes the meeting as constructive, but says much work still needs to be done.

Dec. 2: Zelenskyy meets in Ireland with the Ukrainian delegation returning from Florida. At a news conference, he says Ukraine is waiting for signals from the American delegation after its meetings in Russia.

Dec. 4: A Ukrainian delegation flies back to Florida for a meeting with members of the U.S. team that visited Moscow.