US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner meet with a Ukrainian delegation in Hallandale Beach, Florida, US, November 30, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eva Marie Uzcategui

US and Ukrainian officials held what both sides called productive talks on Sunday about a Russia peace deal, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressing optimism about progress despite challenges to ending the more than 3-year-long war.

Rubio met with a Ukrainian delegation led by a new chief negotiator in Florida, his home state, for talks that he said were meant to create a pathway for Ukraine to remain sovereign and independent.

“We continue to be realistic about how difficult this is, but optimistic, particularly given the fact that as we’ve made progress, I think there is a shared vision here that this is not just about ending the war,” Rubio told reporters after the talks concluded. “It is about securing Ukraine’s future, a future that we hope will be more prosperous than it’s ever been.”

The discussions were a follow-up to a new set of negotiations that began with a fresh US blueprint for peace. Critics said the plan initially favored Russia, which started the conflict with a 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Special envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, were also present representing the US side. Witkoff leaves on Monday for Moscow, where he is expected to meet Russian counterparts for talks this week.

“There’s more work to be done. This is delicate,” Rubio said. “There are a lot of moving parts, and obviously there’s another party involved here … that will have to be a part of the equation, and that will continue later this week, when Mr. Witkoff travels to  Moscow.”

Trump has expressed frustration at not being able to end the war. He pledged as a presidential candidate to do so in one day and has said he was surprised it has been so hard, given what he calls a strong relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has largely resisted concessions to stop the fighting.

Trump’s team has pressured Ukraine to make significant concessions itself, including giving up territory to Russia.

The talks shifted on Sunday with a change in leadership from the Ukrainian side. A new chief negotiator, national security council secretary Rustem Umerov, led the discussions for Kyiv after the resignation on Friday of previous team leader Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, amid a corruption scandal at home.

“Ukraine’s got some difficult little problems,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday, referring to the corruption scandal, which he said was “not helpful.” He repeated his view that both Russia and Ukraine wanted to end the war and said there was a good chance a deal could be reached.

Umerov thanked the United States and its officials for their support. “US is hearing us, US is supporting us, US is walking besides us,” he said in English as the negotiations began.

After the meeting, he declared it productive. “We discussed all the important matters that are important for Ukraine, for Ukrainian people and US was super supportive,” Umerov said.

The Sunday talks took place near Miami at a private club, Shell Bay, developed by Witkoff’s real estate business.

Zelensky had said he expected the results from previous meetings in Geneva would be “hammered out” on Sunday. In Geneva, Ukraine presented a counter-offer to proposals laid out by US Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll to leaders in Kyiv some two weeks ago.

Ukraine’s leadership, facing a domestic political crisis fueled by a probe into major graft in the energy sector, is seeking to push back on Moscow-friendly terms as Russian forces grind forward along the front lines of the war.

Last week, Zelensky warned Ukrainians, who are weathering widespread blackouts from Russian air strikes on the energy system, that his country was at its most difficult moment yet but pledged not to make a bad deal.

“As a weatherman would say, there’s the inherent difficulty in forecasting because the atmosphere is a chaotic system where small changes can lead to large outcomes,” Kyiv’s first deputy foreign minister Sergiy Kyslytsya, also part of the delegation, wrote on X from Miami on Sunday.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog speaks during a press conference with Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics in Riga, Latvia, Aug. 5, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ints Kalnins

i24 News – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday submitted a formal request for a presidential pardon to President Isaac Herzog, i24NEWS Hebrew legal commentator Avishai Grintzig revealed.

What happens next? The request now enters a detailed, multi-stage review process involving the Ministry of Justice, law-enforcement bodies, and the President’s Residence.

Once a request is filed, it is first transferred to the Pardons Department in the Ministry of Justice.

The department begins gathering extensive information, seeking input from the Prison Service, Israel Police, the State Attorney’s Office, welfare and medical authorities, and the Enforcement and Collection Authority.

After assembling the material, the Pardons Department submits its opinion to the Minister of Justice. The minister then issues his own recommendation. If a conflict of interest arises, the government must appoint another minister to handle the matter.

The minister’s recommendation is then sent to the legal department at the President’s Residence, where the file is reviewed, supplemented as needed, and passed on to the President’s Legal Advisor.

The Legal Advisor prepares an independent opinion and may conduct additional inquiries with the Pardons Department or other relevant bodies. Once complete, the full file — including all opinions and documentation — is presented to the President for a final decision.

If the President approves the pardon, he signs a clemency document, which is then countersigned by the Minister of Justice (or a substitute minister). The applicant is notified in writing and receives the signed document.

If the President rejects the request, the applicant receives a written notice explaining the decision.

FILE PHOTO: Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid delivers a statement at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament,, in Jerusalem, February 13, 2023. REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo

i24 news – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu submitted a formal request for a presidential pardon to President Isaac Herzog on Sunday, igniting a political firestorm across Israel’s political landscape.

Opposition leader and Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid called on President Herzog to reject the request outright.

“You cannot grant him a pardon without an admission of guilt, an expression of remorse, and his immediate departure from political life,” Lapid said.

Yair Golan, head of the Democrats party and a retired major general, condemned the move as an implicit admission of guilt.

“The only acceptable arrangement is for Netanyahu to take responsibility, admit guilt, leave politics, and release the nation from this crisis. Only then can unity be restored.”

National Unity Party chairman Benny Gantz accused Netanyahu of using the request to distract the public from the controversial draft-exemption bill.

“He’s acting like an arsonist who starts a fire and then demands protection money to put it out,” Gantz said. “Instead of inflaming tensions, put out the fire you started. Stop harming democracy, call elections, and only then pursue a plea deal or a pardon.”

MK Gilad Kariv also denounced the request.

“After eight years of claiming the cases were collapsing and that there was ‘nothing because there is nothing,’ he is now seeking a pardon,” Kariv wrote. “He refuses to take responsibility or admit guilt. The top national priority is ending Netanyahu’s rule, which has brought repeated disasters and deepened the decay of Israel’s political culture.”

Coalition members, however, lined up firmly behind Netanyahu.

Defense Minister Israel Katz voiced full support:

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said granting a pardon was essential for state security.

“The judicial system, and especially a corrupt State Attorney’s Office that fabricated cases, must be reformed. A pardon and reform go hand in hand.”

Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar added:

“The time has come to free Israel from the saga of Netanyahu’s trial, which is tearing the nation apart.”

Coalition Chairman Ofir Katz praised Netanyahu’s decision as “an enormous act of leadership,” claiming the trial is collapsing and was politically motivated from the start.

“For the sake of national healing, he has chosen this path,” Katz said.

Economy Minister Nir Barkat likewise urged President Herzog to end the trial.

“After a difficult war, Israel must embark on a path of unity. This is the moment to pardon the Prime Minister.”

At the same time, Likud MK Tali Gottlieb criticized Netanyahu from the right—lamenting that he requested a pardon at all.

“Why cast yourself in a negative light when you did nothing wrong?” she said. “Your trial has exposed unprecedented persecution. It is shameful to submit this request.”

The Movement for Quality Government demanded that President Herzog refuse the request immediately.

“A pardon in the middle of a legal proceeding is a mortal blow to the rule of law and equality before the law,” the organization warned. “Granting clemency to a sitting prime minister accused of serious fraud and breach of trust sends a message that some citizens are above the law.”

Pro-democracy protest leaders, Shikma Bressler, Moshe Radman, Yaya Fink, and Ami Dror issued a harsh statement:

“The thief’s hat is on fire. The defendant is begging for a pardon. History will judge Herzog for this moment. Anything less than rejecting the request will make the President complicit in Israel’s destruction.”

The protest movements announced an emergency demonstration Sunday evening outside the President’s Residence in Tel Aviv.