LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Negotiators from the U.S. and Ukraine say days of peace talks in Florida have been constructive. A top Kremlin aide, though, says Ukrainian and European additions to a peace plan are not constructive. Joining us now to discuss the latest is NPR's Ukraine correspondent, Joanna Kakissis, who is in Kyiv. Good morning.
JOANNA KAKISSIS, BYLINE: Good morning.
FADEL: OK, Joanna. So usually, these diplomatic messages are coordinated, but we're getting polar opposite messages here. Which one is it? Constructive, not constructive?
KAKISSIS: Well, Leila, the short answer depends on - is basically, it depends on who you talk to. So Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and Ukraine's chief negotiator, Rustem Umierov, tweeted nearly identical statements that the Florida talks were constructive and productive. Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner met separately with Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev. They talked about the counterproposal by Ukraine and Europe to an earlier plan that would have forced sweeping concessions on Ukraine. Witkoff also gave a positive spin on these talks. But on Sunday, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said the changes were, quote, "rather unconstructive." And, you know, this comes after Secretary of State Marco Rubio talked about the many points of intersection, the potential areas of compromise between the two sides.
Now, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held an online press briefing this weekend, and we asked him about Rubio's remarks. And Zelenskyy did focus on the sticking points. Here he is.
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PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY: (Speaking Ukrainian).
KAKISSIS: So Zelenskyy is saying the issue of giving up Ukraine's territories remains the most difficult, followed by the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and then funding for recovery and the specifics of how security guarantees would actually work.
FADEL: Now, Russian President Vladimir Putin had his own press conference on Friday. What did he say there?
KAKISSIS: So this was Putin's annual news conference. He said that Russia's military goals would be met. Now, the Kremlin has not always been explicit about what those goals are, but Putin has called Ukraine an artificial state. He has said it's historically part of Russia and should never, ever be part of NATO. Russia occupies about a fifth of Ukraine now and wants more. And Russian troops keep attacking Ukraine even during these negotiations, and they've destroyed much of the Ukrainian power grid this year.
FADEL: Yeah. And you - so you've been speaking about this issue of territory being the toughest challenge when it comes to a peace plan. What are you hearing from Ukrainians about that?
KAKISSIS: Well, Leila, very few Ukrainians we've spoken to are willing to give up land in exchange for peace, and this also tracks with what public opinion surveys show as well. Now, the territory that's been talked about the most is Donbas, which includes two regions in the east that were part of Ukraine's industrial heartland. Russia occupies most of Donbas and wants it all. Natalia Cherkaska (ph) - she's a law student in Kyiv. She told us forcing Ukraine to hand over territory it still controls will not bring peace.
NATALIA CHERKASKA: (Speaking Ukrainian).
KAKISSIS: And she's saying the scariest thing is that Russia will retain this feeling of impunity and attack Ukraine in the future, despite Western promises of security. That's why she and other Ukrainians we spoke to do not see these negotiations going anywhere unless the U.S. can pressure Russia into concessions.
FADEL: That's NPR's Joanna Kakissis in Kyiv. Thank you.
KAKISSIS: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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